Not a convincing turn from Wahlberg or Shyamalan

Rating: 1/10 (1 July 2008)

THE HAPPENING is the latest mystery-thriller from pop-director M. Night Shyamalan, this time Mark Wahlberg takes the lead and mixes up a cocktail of nonsense. The traces of nerve and anxiousness feels way gone as Shyamalan builds this drama around the terror of the unknown, and were THE VILLAGE and even SIGNS made small but effective bursts of thrills, THE HAPPENING wants to full-on shock in the opening scene and instead of slowly revealing the mystery throughout, it takes us away from the original drama and steers away from excitement. It may have seemed as a good idea at the time, taking Wahlberg and co. into the county and small-town scenario, but the movie looses all of its drama and ends up feeling like a true lackluster. And the whole deal doesn't feel believable, at all - and then I'm not talking about the shocking terror upon us, but the brother relationship between Wahlberg and Leguizamo doesn't fit, and Zooey Deschanel's part is a sad turn. THE HAPPENING is M. Night Shyamalan's most accessible movie yet, but his most disappointing as both a writer and director.