Umm....

Rating: 5/10 (18 June 2008)

...I just don't know. That's probably the best way to describe my, and quite likely everyone else's, reaction when this movie's credits started to roll.
The movie starts out with a lot of promise. New York's Central park suddenly grinds to a halt and its once bustling inhabitants start walking backwards, talking in gibberish and eventually committing suicide. We then flash over to a construction site where workers begin throwing themselves from their gerters to the ground below in front of the teary eyes of their friends. The incidents are assumed initially to be the result of some sort of bio-chemical terrorist attack and New York is eventually evacuated. Neighboring Philadelphia soon follows suit and this is where we are introduced to our main characters, played my Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo and his on screen daughter. They, along with thousands of others start their trek away from whatever the hell is going on.
If this ever actually happened we'd all be quaking in our boots, combine that with the strong opening and you are easily strapped in and genuinely curious to see what happens next. The problem is the movie runs along at a relatively slow pace, which you will probably gladly sit through in anticipation for the pay off at the end...unfortunately, there really is no pay off to look forward to. The cause of the Happening is presented early on as a theory and doesn't take long before it's presented as likely fact by our protagonist. The ora of mystery that falls over the first 30 minutes of the movie is more or less destroyed by this epiphany and there's little more to keep you guessing. By now you care enough about the characters to root for them and keep you invested, but by the end I still felt cheated out of something, I just didn't know what. M. Night Shyamalan's made a career out of surprise twist endings that turn your entire perception of the preceding film on its head. If ever there was flick made for that it's The Happening, but he decides not to cash in and instead turns it into what feels like a 90 min PSA for global warming.
As far as acting John Leguizamo is the stand out while Wahlberg is good but not great as he often is. I like Zooey Deschanel but she's wooden and unlikable for the lion's share of the movie, which isn't at all her fault given the dialog and scripted personality she's handed. You do get a sense of her improv prowess though, during two scenes of solitude, while she waits and fidgets impatiently.
M. Night Shyamalan is without question a talented director, however. As week as his story is, it is also well shot and paced. There is some very clever camera work that actually manages to be scary in of itself. Creepy almost in its simplicity. I don't think he's earned the rank of today's Hitchcock like some have bestowed upon him, though. Talented, yes, Hitchcock, no. Some of Alfred's stuff is better than others, but I've never seen a Hitchcock film I didn't like.
Like I've said or at least implied the movie's entertaining enough to keep you from looking at your watch, but by the end of it you can't quite understand why. Maybe it will appreciate in time and fewer expectations. I will gladly give it a second chance.
But a warning to gore fans. The movie's promotions like to highlight the R rating this receives but given the lack of graphic violence, course language or even suggestive humor I don't think Shyamalan was going for the R rating so much as it was just given to him.