The Happening

Rating: 3/10 (2 December 2008)

Like M. Night's popular Sixth Sense with Bruce Willis and Signs with Mel Gibson, I assumed that The Happening would be a movie that was difficult to discuss without giving away an important revelation that gives meaning to the story and people's bizarre behavior. In the case of the two former movies, we saw that the thoughts of the protagonist(s) were all a big, beautiful, though troubling, metaphor for the reality of things. I enjoyed Sixth Sense and Signs for that reason. The viewer stumbles along saying, "Okay, that seems a little puzzling there, but this is science fiction, so I'll suspend disbelief." Until in the final few scenes the author gives you the final piece of the puzzle, and it's "Aha!"
So I'm watching The Happening with all due diligence, as bizarre stuff just cascades seemingly out of control, and the lead charactersthe Moores (Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel) seem to be the protagonists hereact rationally one minute then inexplicably the next. Until finally the movie ends, and I'm still waiting for the Big Metaphor that strings it all together... and waiting, and waiting.
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Brian Wright Copyright 2008