The Happening (2008)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

M. Night Shyamalan

Writer (WGA):

M. Night Shyamalan (written by)

Release Date:

13 June 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

We've Sensed It. We've Seen The Signs. Now... It's Happening.

Plot:

A strange, horrible and unprecedented crisis begins in Central Park. A high school science teacher, his wife and a young girl do what they can to survive it.

Plot Keywords:

Park | Teacher | Central Park | Crisis | Disappearance

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Mark Wahlberg	...	Elliot Moore
Zooey Deschanel	...	Alma Moore
John Leguizamo	...	Julian
Ashlyn Sanchez	...	Jess
Betty Buckley	...	Mrs. Jones
Spencer Breslin	...	Josh
Robert Bailey Jr.	...	Jared
Frank Collison	...	Nursery Owner
Jeremy Strong	...	Pvt. Auster - MP
Alan Ruck	...	Principal
Victoria Clark	...	Nursery Owner's Wife
M. Night Shyamalan	...	Joey (voice)
Alison Folland	...	Claire - Woman Reading on Bench with Hair Pin
Kristen Connolly	...	Woman Reading on Bench
Cornell Womack	...	Construction Foreman

Also Known As:

Green Planet (USA) (working title)
The Green Effect (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violent and disturbing images.

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA | India

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Finland:K-15 | Ireland:15A | Norway:15 | Hong Kong:IIB | Singapore:PG | Australia:MA | New Zealand:R13 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Brazil:16 | Italy:VM14 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Argentina:13 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #44343) | Taiwan:R-12 | Japan:PG-12 | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/12 | Germany:16 (cut) (theatrical version) | Sweden:15 | Austria:14 | Denmark:15 | South Africa:16LV | Canada:14A | India:A (cinema release) | New Zealand:R16 (DVD re-rating) | Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating) | Spain:15 (DVD rating) | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

100 W 18th St, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Blinding Edge Pictures

Trivia:

The answer to Julian's math riddle, with the average month having 30 days, is $10,737,418.23.

Goofs:

Plot holes: In the final scene, during a close-up on a Frenchman's face, a bus drives by in the background. Considering the plot, that is impossible.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Woman Reading on Bench with Hair Pin: I forgot where I am.
Woman Reading on Bench: You're at the place where the killers meet to decide what to do with the crippled girl.

Movie Connections:

References The Exorcist (1973)

Soundtrack:

Piano Concerto Nº21 In C K467 ('Elvira Madigan': 2.Andante)

It might be cliché, but it has to be said: The Happening is not happening.

Shyamalan has proved to us earlier that he can be as good as the best with masterpieces of cinema with The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. Yet, since then, he has declined steadily. Signs and Village were good movies, but with Lady in the Water and now The Happening, he has touched a level of incompetence that could never have been expected of him.

The Happening is about a pandemic that is gripping north-eastern USA. It starts with a stunning sequence of events that show people succumb to an unspecified threat – the brilliance of this opening repeated only once more for a five-minute sequence towards the end of the movie. Unfortunately, Shyamalan's writing is a big let-down for the rest. As the focus moves from metropolitans to towns and from crowds to smaller groups, the sense of fear is lost – the biggest sin a horror movie can commit. In the oft repeated criticism for its director, this movie would have been best served as a half-hour episode of Twilight Zone to make it really work.

And to add woe, the actors do not do much to better the experience – Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel are grossly miscast as the protagonists. Any of his previous leading men (Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix and Paul Giamatti) can be imagined to have done a better job for the Science teacher that Wahlberg plays. The camera scrutinizes the performance to a degree that requires an actor with strength in emotions – Wahlberg instead brings a physical presence that the role does not need. Zooey, on the other hand, struts around like in a Disney movie, not for once threatened by the pandemonium.

This time, though Shyamalan humbles his vanity – you don't see him on screen. He now should swallow his pride and leave the writing to the writers. Armed with a better script, we can still expect Shyamalan to make his future movies worth waiting for. For now it is only the memory of the opening sequence, which can be proclaimed as mind-numbing greatness, which is really worth taking away from this movie.