Not Much Happens in Ridiculous 'Happening'

M. Night Shyamalan Strikes Out with First R-rated Picture

Aug 7, 2008

'The Happening' is another misfire added to writer-producer-director M. Night Shymalan's increasingly spotty track record. What happened after 'The Sixth Sense'?

Some kind of neurotoxin is released into the air of New York's Central Park, causing people to become disoriented, stop in their tracks, and then commit suicide. After the airborne event spreads throughout Manhattan, initially thought to be some sort of terrorist attack, it expands to Philly. High school science teacher Elliot (Mark Wahlberg), his emotionally distant wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel), his math-teacher friend Julian (John Leguizamo), and Julian's little daughter find their way to rural Pennsylvania, fleeing from the wind. Could it be Mother Nature pissed off?

Solid Chills Careen into Giggles

'The Happening' starts with an ominously beautiful credit sequences in the clouds. Then the apocalyptic premise gets right to it, starting with a bang, through effectively terrifying and sometimes graphic set pieces---to name a few, a woman on a park bench taking out a hair pin to penetrate her neck, construction men jumping off the top of a building one after another, and a suburban man laying in front of a lawnmower to finish the job. What a shame the film "develops" into such absurd nothingness. Truth is, not a heck of a lot does happen in writer-producer-director M. Night Shyamalan's thriller yarn, his third mess in a row after 'The Village' and 'Lady in the Water.' This one may not finish with the filmmaker's signature twist conclusion---or Bryce Dallas Howard--but it ends up being a pointless anticlimax. Please no 'The Happening 2.'

Unnaturally stilted dialogue will inspire giggles and characters that don't make sense weaken the performances. John Leguizamo gives the most empathetic performance as Julian, while an uncharacteristically whiny Mark Wahlberg is so flat that even his straight-faced delivery to a houseplant may intend to be funny but it's laughable for the wrong reasons. You'll feel embarrassed for Marky Mark. Zooey Deschanel's---gotta love her---big, blue saucer eyes really stick out here and, although said to be "distant," looks so detached and robotic. Her strained marriage with Wahlberg's Elliot is unconvincing to boot, as she's wrapped up in a "secret" from her hubby that she accepted dessert from an obsessed co-worker (What??!!). The last act's appearance of a crazed Betty Buckley as a backwoods shelter-giver seems completely out of tone with what precedes it.

Shyamalan must've been in a bind to rush this project, as this self-serious apocalyptic yarn does show glimmers of a chilling suspense film. But with the quality of its finished product, 'The Happening' just isn't happening.

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