Movies Reviews

Movie Review: The Happening

By Anne Brodie Jun 13, 2008, 17:00 GMT

I’d heard dire things about the film, that Shyamalan’s losing streak was going strong, but aside from a few corny lines and a poor delivery, I found it to be an effective thriller.

By effective I might I had to fight to keep lunch down throughout the first act. It was that scary. And I’m not a wimp, Saw, Hostel and the rest of them don’t cause me the loss of a moment’s sleep, but this … this was creepy.Shyamalan’s back in the cornfields, drawing evil from nature as he often does. What if the world were to turn on us and mow down thousands, millions in the space of a day?That’s a hell of a story.He always gets me. Shyamalan’s disturbing fable freaked me out. It’s that creeping dread at which he excels, that Hitchcockian cinematic sensibility that makes you pant to know what’s around the corner, through your fear. He gives you a voyeur’s courage. Speaking of Hitchcock, did I miss the filmmaker’s customary cameo? He has created a palpable, agonizing disturbance that gets under the skin even as the sun shines and the grass blows in gentle breezes.That is why Zoey Deschanel’s performance is so incomprehensible. She plays Mark Wahlberg’s wife, as they flee from some kind of toxic attack. She looks barely awake, even as she witnesses atrocities and aftermaths and suddenly discovers her inner strong woman. She simply opens her eyes wider and pouts as the apocalypse arrives on her grassy doorstep. Such a blank, flat, dead performance. Talk about chilling. I wonder how much that scared the director?It’s true that some unfortunate lines are thrown out and lie there like dead herrings. Someone should have edited these lines in the second draft. But they actually did little to divert me from the unfolding horror. Wahlberg is just fine, minus the unfortunate lines, making a believable leader and partner. His character makes a connection between disappearing honeybees and the apocalypse, forearmed with a good grasp of news reports, education and some intuition. Betty Buckley is some kind of righteous recluse, the last holdout, off the grid, off her nut awaiting the worst that God can dish out. The fleeing family takes refuge in her home, a house similar to the ones in The Village and Signs, in a place where the modern age and technology cannot save anyone.One of the film’s funniest images is on a billboard for new homes about to be built in the as yet uncorrupted countryside. It says ‘You deserve it!’And so we do!The Happening is an ecological horror film, a message film, a green film and a protest film locked into the 2008 zeitgeist. It’s about as today as it gets. And that’s why the rural chapters work so well. The countryside is a strange and forbidding place to most people today. There are no interlocking brick driveways, Starbucks, newsstands or jostling passersby. No skyscrapers, art installations, townhouses or taxicabs. The countryside here is unfamiliar, an unknown quantity, unpredictable and dangerous. Not our friend.That is scary indeed.35mm sci fi drama
Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan
Opens: June 13
Runtime: 91 minutes
MPAA: Rated R for violent and disturbing images
Country: US
Language: English
Rating: 7/ 10

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what?Jun 13th, 2008 - 23:27:43

that was the worst piece of s#$@ i have ever seen. I might as well as walked into the theater with a portable dvd player and a copy of an inconvenient truth and watched that instead!

plain to put..................horrible.

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Re: What?Jun 14th, 2008 - 02:12:12

For the person that made the comment below: If this is the worst film you have ever seen, then they don't let you out very often.

Finally a review that doesn't have an agenda against Night. It's a good movie.

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GordoJun 14th, 2008 - 02:57:57

I want my money back!

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Husky4765Jun 14th, 2008 - 06:25:22

Omg that is by far the worst film i have ever seen! Im suprised it even got to the cinemas should of gone straight to DVD it was bizarre, apart from wahlberg the acting was terrible DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY AND GO SEE THIS total waste of time.

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PeteJun 14th, 2008 - 06:29:17

Far and away the worst movie I've ever seen. I left the movie and went to the box office to see if I could get a refund. I wish I had my $10 and my 90 minutes back
Pure trash

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CaidJun 14th, 2008 - 07:53:13

This movie is a total waste of time! Please do yourself a favor and save your money for something actually worth $10.50. I will never again see a movie by Night... He sucks!!

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Ryne SimmonsJun 14th, 2008 - 08:19:38

The best part of the movie was when some guy chucked his slush puppie at the screen and walked out apart from that the movie sucked donkey butt. I would rather watch woopie goldberg have sex with the powderpuff girls for 5 hours then ever consider going back to that god forsaken movie

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DanielJun 14th, 2008 - 14:09:12

Please. Some of sound like drama kid dropouts. Or ya graduated and didn't make it. Movie is good show just like his other movies.

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carnationJun 14th, 2008 - 15:23:14

The Happening is exactly what Shyamalan set out to create: a really great, creepy B-movie. I'd read the terrible reviews before seeing it last night, and agree that there are some dumb lines, but overall came away thoroughly creeped out. Forboding atmosphere throughout. Humor and horror mixed beautifully, as any B movie should have. I loved it.

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PamJun 15th, 2008 - 01:09:02

I sat there and waited and waited for the scary part. Yes, all the deaths were horrible, new and creative ways to die...blah blah blah. Gross yes, scary NO. Is it possible for the enviroment to take over... look around it is already happening... no pun intended. I was bored to tears!

I was so looking forward to Night's new release, however, this one... so not worth the wait. I also just could not wrap my head around Mark Walburg being a whimmy hey lets just keep running kind of guy. I so wanted him to find a way to defeat it.

There were more laughs in the theater I was in than gasps of horror. The best part had to be the hotdog guy.. He was very amusing in an otherwise very dull movie. So I'm not sure if the writer of this artical and I saw the same movie or if he is just easily scared. He was right about the chick playing the wife.. maybe we should take up a collection and help her get some acting lessons... lol

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