Not even an interesting failure

Rating: 4/10 (17 June 2008)

Once upon a time, I was a fan of 'The Sixth sense'. I loved the tone, the pace and the craftsmanship. I saw some of these elements in the others movies that 'Night' made, but I feel the urge to file most of his work under 'humbug'. I'm don't want to bash his films, if I give a filmmaker two hours of my time I want his films to be good. The 'Lady in the water' was a failure, but at least a stylish failure:he tried to do something different and had to pay a price for the risk. I respect that effort. 'The Happening' travels a very familiar road: it's another disaster movies. After 'Cloverfield', 'The Mist' or maybe even 'War of the worlds' comes another tale of people who try to avoid a haunting fate. This time, sadly to say, it's emotionally flat, mannered, empty and not even stylish. Not subtle in any way. The acting style wasn't working. I love Zooey, but here it seemed as if she's been eating mushrooms all the time. Wahlberg can be sharp, like in 'The Departed', but his line-reading seems uninspired, flat. The stilted acting style feels too cerebral. The way people react to all the horrible events the witness doesn't feel real, there's a lack of internal logic. There are some scary moments, but when it starts raining construction workers the whole cinema was shaking with laughter. The idea is GOOD but the overacting is horrendous. And then that final scene.... an attempt to a 'twist ending'? I was angry with this lazy film. I don't know if I even by another ticket for a film by M. Night Charlatan.