I kind of liked it in spite of it's bad reputation.

Rating: 6/10 (5 August 2009)

The Happening starts early one morning in Central Park in New York City where people suddenly start committing suicide for no apparent reason, this strange outbreak of suicides continues to spread throughout the city, the state & the Eastern seaboard. High school science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg), his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) along with his best friend Julian (John Leguizamo) & his young daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez) flee nearby Philadelphia but become stranded when the train service is discontinued. As the speculation grows over what is causing the mass outbreak of suicide it's seem the only thing known for sure is that it is caused by an airborne toxin, as the friends try to stay ahead of the toxin & survive it becomes increasingly difficult...
Apparently having the working titles Green Planet & The Green Effect this American Indian co-production was written, produced & directed by M. Night Shyamalan & seems to polarize opinion with some incredibly scathing & unforgiving reviews amidst some kinder ones. While The Happening isn't perfect & it can sometimes be a very frustrating viewing experience I did actually quite like it for it's outlandish story the likes of which I have never seen before, surely the originality that The Happening offers is to be applauded & encouraged rather than ridiculed otherwise why are filmmakers &/or studios going to make any other type of horror film than teen slashers? For a start I really liked the central concept behind The Happening, the idea of some toxin that causes people to commit suicide is just great & it's a shame Shyamalan didn't have the balls to build on a terrific & memorable opening sequence showing people plunging hair pins into their necks & the startling scene of construction workers jumping off high scaffolding like lemmings. The film ditches the big city mayhem & fun for endless scenes of Wahlberg & family walking around the countryside far too early & the film suffers as a result. Just not enough happens really & I also wish it had been a bit gorier with some real bite to the suicide scenes. The film never really confirms anything & the main message that The Happening is trying to convey is that science doesn't have all the answers, there are things we simply don't & will never understand although I do like the idea of the environment fighting back against us humans who are destroying it. The script suggests terrorism, pollution, secret government experiments gone out of control & even nuclear power plants but I like the nature fighting back scenario the best although it is left open for interpretation. The character of Elliot is also a refreshing change as he's not some all action American hero but actually feels like a normal guy most of the time. On the downside it is slow going at times & the none event of an ending is very frustrating & there's no trademark Shyamalan twist in sight.
I picked this up on second hand Blu-ray & it said it contained scenes too shocking for cinemas or something which is odd since it's a fairly tame film, a woman plunges her hairpin into her neck, there are some dead bodies seen, a guy has both his arms ripped off by lions, a couple of people get shot & a cool scene in which a guy lays on the ground & lets a huge lawnmower run over him. There should have been more scene like these. The film does have a somewhat eerie atmosphere to it & there's a great scene which an avenue of trees is seen with people hanging from each one in a creepy moment, there's a cool car crash & an amusing part where Wahlberg talks to a plastic plant.
Apparently taking just 44 days to shoot The Happening is said to have been shot in sequence & it has nice glossy production values although the colour looks slightly bleached on my Blu-ray, the sky is white rather than blue for instance. The acting is alright, Wahlberg is OK while the interestingly named Zooey Deschanel is very pretty to look at & John Leguizamo has nothing more than a glorified cameo.
The Happening has a bad reputation but I liked it, I liked it themes & ideas & central concept although the execution wasn't always the best which does hurt it. This should have been gorier, had more of a satisfying ending & less time spent with Wahlberg walking around fields. I seemed to like it more than most though & would recommend it to those looking for something different.