The Happening (2008)

The Happening

Sometimes I try to picture M. Night Shyamalan’s producers, standing around dumbfounded as he takes a good premise and meticulously   f—s it up. Ever since he made The Sixth Sense, Shyamalan has been refining what was bad about that movie (the portentousness, the hollow profundity) and setting aside the good. Credit where credit is due, he got a good performance out of Bruce Willis once upon a time. But five movies later, anyone, everyone – his producers included – would have to conclude, reluctantly, that M. Night Shyamalan has lost it. The Happening is the most abysmal movie I’ve seen this year. And this is the year I saw Southland Tales.

Philadelphia high-school teacher Mark Wahlberg (don’t laugh) poses his students a question. The nation’s bees are disappearing – where’d they go? One student thinks it’s pollution, another figures someone might be poisoning the bees… But Mark keeps pushing. Finally, one student says, “It’s an act of nature, and we’ll never fully understand it.” And because he’s the first of many Exposition Fairies, Mark likes his answer. Sadly, class is interrupted at this point. People in New York are committing suicide en masse. The government has ordered everyone to stay in their homes and wait out the supposed “terrorist incident”. School’s out for shudders.

If it weren’t for the quality of the acting and the script, you’d be with this movie for the first twenty minutes. But the acting is bad. It is so bad that Mark Wahlberg’s performance is no better or worse than anyone else’s in The Happening. Those familiar with Wahlberg’s Action Man-like range of facial expressions might be surprised by such a remark. But trust me when I say that Zooey Deschanel and John Leguizamo and the little girl who plays John Leguizamo’s daughter and ABSOLUTELY EVERYBODY who appears in this movie… is terrible. There’s a scene in the middle where Mark Wahlberg talks to a plastic tree and you actually feel sorry for the plastic tree that its talent for acting is being wasted.

Shyamalan’s phobia about scale continues to run rampant (in a tightly confined space). No matter how big the potential for his premise might be (and there’s some weird shit Happening right across the East Coast in this movie) he steadfastly refuses to shoot any scene involving more than five people; framing everything humanly possible in close-up, abstaining from special effects, crowd scenes, car chases… basically anything beyond the technical range of your average wedding video. You can sum up Shyamalan’s entire approach from the scene in The Happening where Mark Wahlberg and assorted survivors gather round a radio (a f—ing RADIO?!) to listen to the world end.

What irks the most are the two or three things he gets right: John Leguizamo telling Zooey, “Don’t take my daughter’s hand unless you mean it”; Zooey’s eyes; the distant scream in Central Park, and then later, outside the Louvre. Shyamalan is not a man without talent; he’s a man with a little talent and a great big f— off ego. If he could just learn to listen to someone else (his poor producers, perhaps); to take advice on which are the good ideas… he’d be ok.

What’s The Happening about? It’s an eco-thriller, but it wants to be more. There’s a little bit about the fragility of life in there, something about the denial of death in the Western world, but mostly – smugly – there’s M. Night Shyamalan. He doesn’t have a cameo in this one, but he’s all over it like a rash. He’s there in the sententious lines that don’t mean anything, in the protracted close-ups of Mark Wahlberg’s meaningless face… Once upon a time he made a good movie out of these quirks, but that was five movies back. The Happening is so bad not even bees want to go near it.

THE HAPPENING (2008)

BOTTOM LINE: M. Night Shayamalan regains his directorial feet a little bit with this cautionary tale of the environment turning on humans, but at the end of the day this film confirms he's a one-trick pony with an extremely narrow vision who can't seem to get past his ego by letting someone else write better scripts for him or to get even half-decent performances from his cast.

HE GOOD: We're living in a world that has become acutely aware of issues such as global warming and greenhouse gas emissions. With "The Happening", the latest offering from M. Night Shyamalan, who manages to right his directorial ship a little bit in this film after some truly woeful films, puts forward the concept of the environment starting to attack humans for the way we've all treated it. Fantastic idea, particularly with the notion that the plants start releasing a chemical which affects the neurological impulses in human brains, causing them to harm themselves. Quite a number of scenes in this film are very chilling; in the opening scenes in New York a group of workers having a break on a construction site see they're co-workers walking off the top of the construction site to their deaths on the street. Or there's the image of people hanging dead from trees when a group of characters drive through a deserted town. Very eerie and disturbing (this is Night's first non-PG feature). Aside from the obvious environmental themes, there's also some exploration of human behaviour and the way we treat each other in a crisis (echoing scenes from Spielberg's War Of The Worlds). The film scores points for its topical themes and warnings, as well as Shyamalan's ability to make the environmental world come alive and feel threatening, like a predator hunting its prey in the humans.

THE BAD: Where do you begin? Shyamalan clearly has some talent as director because even in his worst films you can see little flashes of brilliance here and there, but the problem is he just can't seem to get over his own self-importance. As a result, this film, just like his last few films, has a brilliant concept but a screenplay and plot that just meanders from one point to the next without any real structure (hint Night, get a script writer). There are a number of scenes in this film that just don't go anywhere or amount to anything; take Alma's (Zooey Deschanel) secret which turns out to be she went for dessert with a guy at the office without telling Elliot (Mark Wahlberg). His response is to make a sarcastic story about how he deliberately bought cough medicine for no reason so he could talk to a cute pharmacist. It's dreadful and given the apocalyptic nature of the story it's completely out of place. Then there's the whole sequence with the old mad loner at the end. The idea of someone shutting themselves off to the world to be with nature works well in the frame work of the idea, but the delivery is absolutely terrible, particularly as she ends up as one of the victims. The performances across the board are absolutely terrible, and not because the cast selected were bad. It's all Shyamalan's misguided (I'm being polite here) direction. Marky Mark Wahlberg can be good with the right director but this is hands down one of the most embarrassing performances you're likely to see, largely due to the high-pitched whiney tone he takes and the woeful dialogue he's given to deliver. Zooey Deschanel doesn't fare much better, looking like a deer in headlights for most of the film. Then there's the title, "The Happening". I don't think 'happening' is a noun, and it makes for some very gimmicky dialogue, like "is this really happening?" Oh my God!!!! In the end, this film is an embarrassing mess. Maybe not as bad as his previous two efforts, but it's a mess any way, begging the question whether or not Shyamalan really has the humility and self-awareness to listen to others, and by extension, to have what it takes to be a great director. Oh well, at least in this film he doesn't inflict on us a pathetic twist ending to make him look like a clever screenwriter.

RATING: 6/10

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Todd Murphy <br />
http://www.allaboutmovies.net

Movie Review - The Happening

A lot of flack has been thrown at director M. Night Shyamalan regarding The Happening. Either his stories aren't up to par or they're just too weird, or the twists he's thrown in aren't entertaining enough, or he hasn't thrown in twists. The poor guy had so much success with his first outing The Sixth Sense that it's been hard to come back with anything more than a mediocre outing to the public eye. The same has happened with The Happening, except in a more emphasized manner. Lady in the Water especially created a rift between Shyamalan and the public eye, creating a situation where The Happening either had to come back big and strong a la The Sixth Sense or interests would wane even more. It seems The Happening wasn't exactly what the public was hoping for (could it be the critique on our environmental pollution affecting our subconscious in part?), but the overall hate for the film seems unwarranted.

Consider the fact that Shyamalan's story is rich and developed. Sure, it follows the same format as a typical zombie movie, with a strange outbreak of irrational, suicidal behavior by humans in highly populated areas. But story-wise, all similarities to "of the dead" type films stop there, because The Happening's plot is buoyed by the fact that the script is smart, current, and ecologically poignant. Putting a focus on plants' survival instincts, Shyamalan highlights the current crisis we face as we further our destruction of he Earth by creating a threat which before seemed passive - our own environments.

The film progresses smoothly enough, opening with a tense and violent introduction into the affliction before settling on Mark Wahlberg's character Elliot, a science teacher who, after hearing about the outbreak, attempts to outrun the ailment with wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel). Elliot is soft-spoken, even-tempered and good-natured, seemingly out of character for Wahlberg, but the actor pulls it off fairly well, with only a hint of robotic monotone thrown in. On the other hand, Alma is fantastically annoying with her fair share of quirks. It works, though, emphasizing the rift between Alma and Elliot in their struggling marriage; however, this little subplot about love between two feuding adults seems insubstantial in the bulk of the film, an unnecessary and, towards the finale, slightly corny attempt at an emotional climax. In fact, the tearful departing between Elliot's friend Julian (John Leguizamo) and his daughter overpowers the love story, making it pale in comparison.

From the powerful opening, Shyamalan grabs the viewer with surprising violence, a technique he's never used before. It's not excessive, but it does focus more on style than substance - take the creative but unnecessary lawnmower suicide as example - that shows Shyamalan enjoys playing with gore. Is it needed? I don't think so, since the theme of the film expresses an environmentally-friendly view rather than a more exploitative topic, but does it add tone and a growth to Shyamalan as a director? Sure!

But it's the intensity of the film that holds the viewer, quickly whipping through humanity in the northeast. A few unrealistic observations aside, The Happening is surprisingly straightforward for the normally complex stories that the director pens, but instead of dumbing down the entirety of the movie, it's a boon, allowing for Shyamalan to skip all of the hassle of explaining a twist that may or may not be more exciting.

But I can see why some viewers took a disliking to the film. The lackluster conclusion is a bummer, not only because it gives a less pleasing outlook on humanity's goodness, but also because its resolution is not as epic or suspenseful as its prelude. The problem is not that the conclusion is necessarily bad - it makes sense in regards to the subject matter - but that the film builds up so well that it can't be satisfactorily resolved. What ends up happening is that it feels like Shyamalan dropped the ball; one attributes their disappointment with the ending, a "that's all!?" feeling, to the idea that Shyamalan could not come up with a better ending, ultimately ending with whatever seemed appropriate. Logically, in my opinion, the movie ended just where it needed to, because it said and did what it set out to do; as entertainment, on the other hand, The Happening falls flat with a climax that is stale and stuffy compared to the preceding cinema.

Even though The Happening displays a lot of what's gotten Shyamalan where he is today, most noticeably in the more frightening scenes, there's still a lot of freshness in what the director brings to the film. With an intriguing and compelling script, the film has a lot to enjoy. Where it fails, it fails with a grace that's missing within many other movies in the genre, and contrary to the majority, I'm excited for Shyamalan's next foray into horror. Leave your expectations in the DVD case and allow yourself a visually stunning and educational experience - and for God's sake, don't hope for The Sixth Sense part II. You're only deluding yourself.

Last updated: 2010-01-17 08:05:09 by user01

The Happening

Back in 1999, M.Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) showed us that he was considerably one of the most brilliant film directors. However, subsequently he has proven otherwise and his latest movie, The Happening is one of the lousiest science fiction I’ve ever seen. I must really comment on the tagline:

“We’ve sensed it. We’ve seen The Signs and now… it’s happening”

Indeed we’ve sensed M.Night Shyamalan’s declining creativity. We’ve seen the signs from his past movies, and now he has hit the rock bottom. How appropriate.

It’s about a Philadelphian maths teacher, Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg), his estranged wife (Zooey Deschanel) and his friend’s little girl (Ashlyn Sanchez) who are trying to outrun an airborne virus which causes people to be suicidal. The epidemic is spreading rapidly in throughout the northeastern United States.

Spoiler alert
I was guessing what could be the real cause behind the virus? Is it terrorist or aliens? And the conclusion I got from the movie was it is an act of nature with no definite explanation. Convenient isn’t it? There is no need for justification. Such an easy way to get out of difficult situation but it fails to speak anything. Besides, the virus infects everyone except the three lead characters, even when it blows past them. It’s as if they’re immune to it. Clearly the virus is invented by the filmmakers who wanted to make a story.

If I were you, I wouldn’t bother watching.

Mel says: 3/10

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The Happening

I guess my ratings say it all right? Everything by my books is 3/5 what makes this an average film at best, but is it? Yes…it’s exactly what it is, an average film at best.

The cast is nothing to die for and the only superstar in this film is Mark Walhberg who does his job in this horror-thriller.

I think the film had great potential, I remember watching the trailer to it and couldn’t wait until the film came out, but then it did and I saw it…was disappointed of-course, it’s not a bad film but it’s not really good either.

I have great respect for director Shyamalan and loved his early works (Sixth Sense, Unbreakable) but from then on, his films were just not good enough and not what he could have made of them.
There are some scary scenes in the film as you see a family trying to escape in their car, beginning their drive only to see the car moments later crashing hard into a tree, killing almost everyone. Or a woman trying to kill herself banging her head on the walls of her house as if she were a zombie and this is Night of The Living Dead…yes, scary moments indeed if you’d encountered them in real life. But besides that, the ending is plain simple and not doing anything to the audience. A plague that came and went and that’s it. Come on, give us some meat here, throw some bones, make it scarier, make it terrifying, make it evil…but when it just disappears out of the blue, it has no mystery, no fear, no drama…it’s just bad writing for a film that could have been so much more, and I really have hoped it would have been more, because like I said before, the potential was there and there were some scary moments…if it was just closer to an apocalyptic film, it would have been much better. Next time Shyamalan, please make it better…like your first films, remember them?

Jessie