The Happening - Review

Discuss this movie on our message board!

Length: 89 min

Rated: R

Distributor: 20th Century Fox

Release Date: 2008-06-13

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo, Ashlyn Sanchez, Betty Buckley, Spencer Breslin

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Produced by M. Night Shyamalan, Barry Mendel, Sam Mercer

Written by M. Night Shyamalan

Visit the movie's Official Site!

Reviewed by Katey Rich : 2008-06-12 16:03:18

Rumors of M. Night Shyamalan’s hackery have been greatly exaggerated. With The Happening, a misfire on many levels, Shyamalan still manages to prove that he’s got an expert grasp of film language and style. Unfortunately, it’s human language he struggles with, which unintentionally turns The Happening into more of a campy mess than the moody disaster thriller he’s aiming for.

The plot, at least in the beginning, is one thing he gets right. In the first ten minutes of the film we see people in various locations of New York City suddenly fall silent, stop in their tracks, and commit suicide with whatever method is most handy. A woman stabs herself in the neck with a knitting needle, right before a series of construction workers jump off buildings. The shots of all the people standing stock still are bone chilling, as is the sight of bodies of workers flying through the air with the greatest of ease.

After that breathtaking opening, we meet Elliot (Mark Wahlberg) and Alma (Zooey Deschanel), a couple living in Philadelphia and quarreling with each other for unknown reasons. News about the New York suicides—pinned on nerve gas from a terrorist attack—reaches Elliot while he’s teaching his science class, and he and a fellow teacher (John Leguizamo) decide to decamp to the countryside with their families, lest Philly be the next target. Though Leguizamo’s character is the most interesting of the bunch, he soon departs to go back and find his wife, leaving his 8-year-old daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez) in Elliot and Alma’s baffled care.

From then on our strange family is on the run, both from the occasional crazies they encounter along their journey and from the real cause of the suicides. I don’t think this can fairly be considered a spoiler any more, stop reading right now if you don't want to know... and here goes—it’s plants. Yes, nature, after centuries of abuse at the hands of humanity, has decided to strike back the only way they know how—emitting a toxin that causes humans to suddenly kill themselves. There’s an attempt at scientifically explaining the phenomenon in the beginning, but plausibility isn’t the issue; what really matters is how well nature will work as a villain.

Surprisingly enough, plants are OK bad guys at first. With Alma and Elliot on the run in the countryside, each shot contains a tree or bush, a potent reminder of the threat that may be activated at any moment. And somehow or another the toxins—which are reportedly spreading from cities to less-populated areas—come to be represented by gusts of wind, which everyone outruns with limited success. It sounds hokey, but it’s surprisingly effective, given how often we’ve seen wind symbolize some kind of evil in countless sci-fi and fantasy movies.

In the battle that Shyamalan has set up between nature and humanity, it’s the people who really get the raw end of the deal. Elliot and Alma are bland, flat characters, and aren’t helped by the atrocious performances by two normally appealing actors. Even Betty Buckley, a stage veteran, is an over-the-top disaster as a kooky old woman who shows up later in the film. Shyamalan wants to make this disaster movie a study of what makes us human, but the human specimens on display here are so unappealing, you find yourself rooting for the plants.

It’s unclear how the guy who gave us Haley Joel Osment’s breakout performance has developed such a tin ear for dialogue and character, but it’s what dooms The Happening from any kind of success. Despite his considerable skill behind the camera, Shyamalan can’t seem to step in front and direct his actors, or give them decent material to work with. For all his complaints recently about being misunderstood, it seems it’s Shyamalan who simply doesn’t get us.

Latest Movie Reviews:

Thumbnails Gallery for The Happening

Social Bookmark This Article

Blinklist

Del.icio.us

Digg

Furl

Slashdot

Facebook

StumbleUpon

Yahoo!

Propeller

Comment on “The Happening”

Note: This website is not intended for use by minors. The views expressed in this comments section are not necessarily our own. Comments that we deem to be poorly worded, off topic, or threatening will not be published. For free, uncensored discussion visit our forum.

Dale Says:
June 13th, 2008 at 14:30
Your spoiler warning was too close to the spoiler, and the em dash drew my eye to the spoiler before I saw the warning.

Can't be considered a spoiler? Well, it was for me!

Grrrr

Rich Says:
June 14th, 2008 at 14:27
This movie is downright awful! I saw it last night. Yuck! One star out of five

wade Says:
June 15th, 2008 at 00:03
when the trailors first came out i was hooked, i mean what guy doesnt wanna see some dudes jumping off a building, and the suspence of what was the culprit mademe interested. but i gatta say, and this from a pure jock point of veiw, this movie sucked. it was slow, boring and me and my chick went for a refund. the hype of this movie doesnt do any justice. nah dudes, your better off watching some chick flick then this one, trust me your girl will really appreciate it more.

Movie Reviews Says:
June 15th, 2008 at 14:54
This movie looks interesting.

brett Says:
June 15th, 2008 at 19:43
Please enhance the spoiler warning to better warn of spoiling. Anyways, off to see it now and very excited.

JoshT Says:
June 15th, 2008 at 19:44
I wouldn't worry about the spoiler in Katey's review folks, it's really not much of a spoiler.

Danielle Says:
June 15th, 2008 at 20:14
I'm a big movie buff and I saw the Happening today and loved it. It kept me on the edge of my seat and sent chills down my spine. It made me laugh, cry and shake just like Six Sense did. Mark Wahlberg did an amazing job and should be proud of this movie as well as Shyamalan. He is a brilliant, unique, and creative writer/producer that conveyed a creepy mind boggling movie. His movies get you to think outside the box and let’s face it a bunch of the movies coming out these days are a tad bit boring at least he is trying something new. Shyamalan is brave and isn’t afraid to throw his ideas all out on the table. You critics over analyze everything. And of course people have there opinions on what the actors/ actresses should have done in the movie, like run into a house, board up on the windows and wait it out, but then we would just be sitting there watching "I am ledgend". I think everyone should see it and remember that it's hard to make your puzzling thoughts and imagination unfold into a terrifying, brilliant story.

Andrew Says:
June 16th, 2008 at 15:06
The acting was horrendous, the dialogue was so bad I wondered if George Lucas had a writing credit on it. M Night can set up spooky shots still, but the moment his actors started speaking I wanted to shove a knitting needle in MY neck.

As the film ended my friend wondered aloud "when does the story start?". Meandering, tedious and painful to watch. Even if the director meant this to be a homage to B movies he did it badly in that the audience wasn't in on the joke.

Beatrix Kiddo Says:
June 17th, 2008 at 00:03
Campy mess - well put!!!

normanbates3 Says:
June 18th, 2008 at 00:57
The biggest disappointment of the year so far. I thought Shyamalan bounce bounce back after Lady in the Water, but I guess he didn't

http://movieoppinionsandtheories.today.com/

Chad Langen Says:
June 18th, 2008 at 00:57
This movie was an utter disaster, however, I had a blast watching it. How is that possible? Much like Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, I just had a hell of a time pointing out all the stupid choices made by the characters, the horrible acting, the unexplained events (won't mention them for the sake of those who think there's actually a twist in the film). It's a horrid mess, but an accidental comedy at the same time.

Coo Says:
July 21st, 2008 at 15:08
The movie seems to have used some details of an existing phenomenon... and then exagerated it. Several articles about such events are available in the internet and the article below is just an example.

http://www.halexandria.org/dward079.htm

Although the film may be appreciated by those familiar with the facts, the movie clearly failed to attract probably a majority of the audience since no sequence in the film fully explains what exact type of culprit or villain the film is talking about. So most of the audience ended up guessing. Perhaps a prologue would have helped.

Back to The Happening

The Happening - Review

Social Bookmark This Article

Comment on “The Happening”

Leave a Reply