Review of The Happening (2008) by Oxcart — 05 May 2013

There was a time when the name M Night Shyamalan was effectively a synonym for the new generation of writing: plots that could turn on a dime, characters that were interesting, and generally movies that could be counted on to be interesting and a good use of your time.

Well, that era appears to be over. So let's run down The Happening. On its positive side (and there is a considerable positive side), it is a unique execution of an uncommon premise: the environment has turned on us.

But unlike most previous versions of the plot, this isn't about animals rising up en masse against us (whoops, sorry James Patterson...but Zoo was a real piece of cheese), but rather nature subliminally convincing us to do the dirty work for it.

So, neat twist on a not-new idea. Unfortunately, though, Shyamalan's "new approach" completely wrecks what could, should have been an outstanding movie. Remember that in all of great works.

..and Shyamalan's early stuff...that they held to a basic maxim: tension is built most by not letting the audience see. Keep them guessing and off-balance. knew it, and Signs did it, too. (So did The Village, but a little less so.

) The Happening? Total screwup. Where the camera should cut away, it doesn't. Shyamalan completely jettisoned any hope of creating an atmosphere that keeps the audience off balance. Instead, the film goes for splatter-gore shock value, and it goes way over the top.

Where there used to be finesse in these films, all that is present in The Happening is the most pedestrian, hamfisted attempt to rattle the audience. What should have been a shocking nature-doesn't-like-us film ended up being Maximum Overdrive with trees.

The sad part is that the plot had some actual ability to work; it didn't have to be a self-parody, but the absolutely classless, talentless writing doomed it. Characters were wooden and unconvincing, but NOT because Mark Wahlberg or Zooey Deschanel did a poor job; they did well with what they were given.

The problem is that they were given drivel. Wahlberg was, well, Wahlberg. He really doesn't have a lot of gears as an actor, but he is dependable. Deschanel turned in a surprisingly touching and believable performance which was quite out of place in this pile of junk.

(Allow me to clarify: the surprise was not that Zooey Deschanel could turn in such a performance; we know she can. What's surprising is that she was able to do that with this bucket of sludge script.) So, frankly, when you get right down to it, you do not watch The Happening because you want a cerebral, atmospheric thriller.

You watch it because...well, frankly, I can't think of a reason to watch it deliberately. Maybe if you're a fan of splatter-horror. But for everybody else, there are much better things to watch. Much better.

A sorely disappointed 2 out of 10 for the total misfire that was The Happening.