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Review: 'The Happening'
Rated R for violent and disturbing images
(out of four)
Michael Machosky can be reached via e-mail or at 412-320-7901.
"The Happening" refers to a mysterious airborne toxic event that strikes the Northeast without warning. All of a sudden, people just stop in their tracks, then are struck by an overwhelming urge to kill themselves by whatever means are handy -- jumping off buildings, banging one's head against the wall or simply laying in front of the riding mower.
Nobody knows what's going on. Terrorism is suspected at first, or some kind of nuclear power plant emissions. Perhaps it's the trees and plants themselves emitting these toxins, borne aloft on the wind.
Philadelphia science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) and his semi-estranged wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) flee to the countryside, along with Moore's colleague (John Leguizamo) and his 8-year-old daughter.
Shyamalan has never let plausibility get in the way of a good story, but he seems to have misjudged the scale of this story. It's more suited to an old "Twilight Zone" episode than a full-length movie.
"The Happening" is better than Shyamalan's last two -- it jettisons his signature, predictable twist ending, and avoids the belabored fairytale backstory of "The Lady in the Water." "The Happening" is fast-paced and attractively shot, and handles its more macabre and gory moments with surprising subtlety.
But, although the cast seems strong on paper, the actors cannot elevate a lousy script, weighed down by too much clumsy expository dialogue. Deschanel and Wahlberg, in particular, wander around in a foggy, lethargic haze, speaking in monotone even when the situation calls for panicked excitement.
These shortcomings make a movie intended to be a metaphor about mankind's abuse of the planet more about the shortcomings of a certain filmmaker, whose ambitions always seem to exceed his grasp.
• In wide release
