I regret to say...

Rating: 2/10 (16 June 2008)

I have been a fan of M. Night Shyamalan for a long time. I've admired and highly enjoyed, all of his previous feature films, yes I have seen them all.
I remember when Lady in the Water came out, it was critically bashed and audiences did not like it much. I agree with most people, it does not compare to his previous films, but I really liked it and I bought the DVD. The fact that this was his first attempt at the fairy tale genre is debatable.
However, I regret to say that in the case of "The Happening" I must agree with most critics and audiences, IT IS NOT A GOOD MOVIE, at all. The story has lots of holes in it. We don't know anything about the character's back stories, yet they talk about certain issues the audience doesn't know about, like if we had had the information all along.
I respect both Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel as terrific actors, I love some their work prior to this (I can't say all of it because I haven't seen all their movies). But their performances in this film leave much to be desired:
Mark Wahlberg is not that bad, but a lot of his lines don't make sense or seem forced into the story. Here's an example: When the old lady, who just threatened him to leave her home, is about to kill herself and he says "You see, I'm a teacher..." HUH? But we've seen him deliver outstanding performances before ... Basketball Diaries and The Departed to name some.
Zooey Deschanel is like on a trip through the whole movie; and not not like person who is shocked by what is going on, but much like a little someone who is on something. I don't know why, she is so great in so many other movies.
I'm also sorry to say that Ashlyn Sanchez's performance is terrible, and she had been great on her small but highly important part on Crash.
I hope that M. Night Shyamalan's films take turn for the better with his next one.