My Review of M. Night Shyamalan's "The Happening"

Rating: 1/10 (14 June 2008)

In M. Night Shyamalan's "The Happening" or "The Crappening" as I now like to call it, there's something in the air that causes people to stop whatever they're doing, slide into a trance and commit horrible suicides.
I would have liked to breath some of that air too so that I would not have to endure this terrible movie! Perhaps next time, M. Knight, the cinema's P.T. Barnum can provide me with his home address so that I can just mail him the $20 that I inevitably pay each year to see his increasingly worsening pictures. Then I can spend a couple of hours doing something productive instead of staring at a movie screen in utter dismay. It's just that Shyamalan initially grabbed me with the unique story telling of "The Sixth Sense" and because of that, I am always hopeful that he will deliver again. So each year I eagerly watch his next offering with expectancy but in this casedisappointment! M. Night Shyamalan has had a rough streak with his past few movies "The Village" and "Lady in the Water". I suggest M. Night relinquish some of his roles as director, writer, actor and producer and bring in some different perspectives.
In "The Happening", Mark Wahlberg plays a soft spoken high school science teacher who evacuates Philadelphia along with his wife (Zooey Deschanel), his fellow teacher ( John Leguizamo) and his friend's daughter (Ashlyn Sanchez) due to an unexplained (actually, never explained) environmental occurrence. The bad guy in this movie is the rustling wind so the major special effect required 3 house fans.
If you are expecting M. Nights trademark twist, forget it. In fact forget characterization, plot, motivation and resolution. What you do get is flat deadpan acting, unrealistic dialogue, plodding pace and silly but violent on screen deaths.
"The Happening" was pitched as a suspenseful thriller but it lacked both of those key elements. I urge you not to be fooled as I was, save your money and enjoy the June sunshine.
Larry Fire The Fire Wire Blog