The Happening (2008)

A science teacher, his wife, and a young girl struggle to survive a plague that causes those infected to commit suicide.

Director:

M. Night Shyamalan

Writer:

M. Night Shyamalan

Stars:

Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo

3 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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	...	Private Auster
Alan Ruck	...	Principal
Victoria Clark	...	Nursery Owner's Wife
M. Night Shyamalan	...	Joey (voice)
Alison Folland	...	Woman Reading on Bench with Hair Pin
Kristen Connolly	...	Woman Reading on Bench
Cornell Womack	...	Construction Foreman

Storyline

Elliot Moore is a high school science teacher who quizzes his class one day about an article in the New York Times. It's about the sudden, mysterious disappearance of bees. Yet again Nature is doing something inexplicable, and whatever science has to say about it will be, in the end, only a theory. Scientists will bring out more theories, but no explanations, when a more urgent dilemma hits the planet. It begins in Central Park. Suddenly and inexplicably, the behavior of everyone in the park changes in a most bizarre and horrible way. Soon, the strange behavior spreads throughout the city and beyond. Elliot, his wife, Alma, and Jess, the young daughter of a friend, will only have theories to guide them where to run and where to hide. But theories may not be enough.

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Plot Keywords:

nature | unprecedented | no particular reason | grey matter | artificial plant | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violent and disturbing images

Did You Know?

Trivia

The word "happen" and variations of it are said 25 times throughout the movie.

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Goofs

The locomotive leaves Philadelphia as a diesel electric. Later, in an overhead-view, the locomotive is electric, with a pantograph and other electrical equipment clearly visible. Later, it changes back to a diesel electric model.

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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.

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Crazy Credits

Moving clouds form the backdrop for the opening and closing credits. On the end credits, they've become stormclouds with lightning. On the end credits, M. Night Shyamalan's name vanishes.

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Alternate Versions

SPOILER: The DVD contains a deleted scene of a piano recital that suddenly becomes tragic; there's also extended versions of the lion attack and porch shooting scenes that had to be dialed back to avoid an NC-17 rating.

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Connections

Featured in Atop the Fourth Wall: Top 15 Screw-Ups of AT4W (2010)

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Soundtracks

Piano Concerto No. 21 in C, K467, Elvira Madigan: 2. Andante
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Radu Lupu, Uri Segal and The English Chamber Orchestra
Courtesy of Decca Music Group Ltd.
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Good enough to watch

It's not as bad as the Professional Critics say it is, but I can understand why they hated it. The Characterization of basically everyone in the Movie is pretty poor, although Zoey Deschanel, Mark Wahlberg and John Leguizamo does work hard with Material they have and sort of work to a certain degree.

The premise is also a bit problematic, Plants are everywhere and there is no avoiding them if they are releasing Toxins unless you wear some sort of breathing filter and almost none of them got to that in the Film.

But it is a fairly effective Thriller, certainly good enough to watch.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA India

Language:

English French

Release Date:

13 June 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Green Planet

Filming Locations:

Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$48,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$30,517,109, 15 June 2008

Gross USA:

$64,506,874

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$163,403,799

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, UTV Motion Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1