The Happening (2008)

Although I did have some problems with the logic of the script there was one thing I couldn't fault M. Night Shyamalan for in The Village: the direction and cinematography.  The adding of a twist ending for a fourth time (or more; I have never seen the films he made prior to The Sixth Sense) may have been getting old, but the movie as a whole was not that much of a step down from The Sixth Sense or Unbreakable, and at least I found it to be not as contrived or cloying as Signs.  But then came The Lady in the Water, followed by The Happening.  

I have not seen The Lady in the Water, but I have always understood it to be the point at which Shyamalan face-planted.  Not so badly that his career was almost brought to a halt - The Last Airbender and After Earth are what briefly did that - but something changed, and not for the better.  I was expecting that even if I found the plot of The Happening to be silly that at least the movie would still look good. I was quite wrong on that, since this looks like it was directed by a completely different person.  

One day in Central Park everyone suddenly stands still for a moment before they all start to commit suicide.  It is initially thought to be a terrorist attack isolated in the New York area, but people who are able begin to exit the larger cities.  Philadelphia science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) and his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) board a train with his colleague Julian (John Leguizamo) and his daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez).  They make it out just as a similar incident hits Rittenhouse Park.

As the situation in the northeastern U.S. deteriorates the train is forced to stop, leaving everyone on foot.  It soon becomes apparent that the attacks are not limited to the cities and are becoming more and more concentrated on small groups of people.  It also becomes clear that it is not the result of terrorists but of trees releasing a toxin into the air.  Julian heads off with a group of strangers to Princeton, New Jersey, to find his wife, while Elliot, Alma and Jess try their hardest to survive as the event starts to reach its peak. 

If this was something like Dead Alive or The Evil Dead then I would understand more of Shyamalan's intent.  There are scenes, such as construction workers killing themselves and lions eating a caretaker at the zoo, that are unintentionally hilarious - or possibly intentional.  The problem is it's hard to tell and, though occasionally some of Shyamalan's previous skill at directing a movie comes through, much of the framing in this is horrendous.  Add that to people literally running away from killer breeze and it just boggles the mind that he thought this was a good idea, even if he actually meant it to be a stylish b-movie.  

Wahlberg's performance is one of his worst, and other than being bored with each other there was never any real explanation given for the tension between Elliot and Alma.  It is refreshing that the plot is laid out early and that The Happening does not rely on a twist ending, but the ending we do get is predictable.  As it goes along the movie becomes too bland to even laugh at.  I would love to get snarky and clever, but this movie just makes me sad and takes the wind out of much of what I would normally say.  It's just a prime example of how a once promising director can so suddenly lose his way.  

The Happening (2008)

Time: 91 minutes

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, Ashlyn Sanchez, John Leguizamo

Director: M. Night Shyamalan