The Happening

[JJuggle]

I have really enjoyed M. Night Shyamalan’s movies, but, wow, this was a stinker.

Great idea, but extremely poorly executed.

Mark Wahlberg was very ill equipped to portray an average guy in extraordinary circumstances. His acting bordered on amateurish with some high school play quality deliveries.

The larger theme was not well expressed in the details. And although I did find myself caring about the characters the “happening” itself was so haphazardly depicted I expected no real resolution. And got none.

And movie cliches, perhaps meant as homages, simply didn’t come off well.

Lastly, although I myself did not notice, according to my wife boom mikes were visible in some scenes. The audience who noticed were actually laughing in many parts.

I, for one, was looking forward to seeing this movie. What a disappointment. I hope this doesn’t kill his career, but it will take something very special to come back from this one.

[monkeyman]

Warning: spoilers

M. Night Shyamalan’s latest movie, The Happening, is not merely bad. It is an astonishment, so idiotic in conception and inept in execution that, after seeing it, one almost wonders whether it was real or imagined. It’s the kind of movie you want to laugh about with friends, swapping favorite moments of inanity: “Do you remember the part when Mark Wahlberg … ?” “God, yes. And what about that scene where the wind … ?”
Mark Wahlberg

The problem, of course, is that to have such a conversation, you’d normally have to see the movie, which I believe is an unreasonably high price to pay just to make fun of it. So rather than write a conventional review explaining why you should or shouldn’t see The Happening (trust me, you shouldn’t), I’m offering an alternative: A dozen and a half of the most mind-bendingly ridiculous elements of the film, which will enable you to marvel at its anti-genius without sacrificing (and I don’t use that term lightly) 90 minutes of your life. As this is intended to be an alternative to seeing the actual film it is, of course, overflowing with spoilers. Those who still intend to see the film despite my warnings should probably stop reading now; those looking for a more typical review should stop by www.rottentomatoes.com and take their pick. For the rest, onward:

[Into_the_blue]

I had friends go see this and they were saying that people in the theatre were laughing out loud at some parts.

Parts where you’re not supposed to laugh.

[Matt_V]

I’ve really been looking forward to it because I liked what night has done in the past, and Mark Walberg is pretty good to.

I couple of my friends told me that it wasn’t very good, but I will be seeing it on tuesday.

[Jerrick]

I saw it last night and loved it! Great movie.

There were lots of funny parts, and everyone would be laughing, then right after that people are killing themselves and its all suspensful.

I thought it was one of his better movies.

[tobbogonist]

@Into the blue

I had friends go see this and they were saying that people in the theatre were laughing out loud at some parts.

Parts where you’re not supposed to laugh.

Who is this who says parts arn’t allowed to be laughed at?
show him to me.

[_Ground_Zero]

Saw the Hulk last night (good movie, recommend it) and was just about to walk into The Happening afterwards but decided that I’d rather just go rent a movie that I heard was good rather than seeing this which I heard was bad…Guess I made a good decision.

[Into_the_blue]

@tobbogonist

Who is this who says parts arn’t allowed to be laughed at?
show him to me.

That’ll be this guy I guess…

[Jerrick]

Because their oppinions are your oppinions.

[BluntRM]

Spoilers

@JJuggle

I, for one, was looking forward to seeing this movie. What a disappointment. I hope this doesn’t kill his career, but it will take something very special to come back from this one.

What did you think of Lady in the Water? I like Paul Giamatti, he’s a good actor, but that movie was pretty lame.

Spoliers:

The Happening played with an interesting idea, and I liked the movie, but I think a tragic ending for the main characters would have rolled out into a better film. They’re cornered, they accept death and leave the cottage house to be together, but contrary to the rest of the movie, washing away all of the disturbing imagery up through that point (and the disturbing imagery was the point), death was a bluff. The unstoppable driving theme of death just stops, just for them, just because, and the movie invents a tragic love that never becomes fully expressed, even though it’s the main character dynamic. Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch should be refugees for surviving, not survivors of a reconciled marriage. And then, like a hanging chad, the theme is switched to environmentalism and then back to death, which is now a gimmick, as the wind starts blowing through a French park-- The ending, the resolution, turns the rest of the movie into a convenient gimmick.

[JJuggle]

@BluntRM

What did you think of Lady in the Water? I like Paul Giamatti, he’s a good actor, but that movie was pretty lame.

Interestingly, I was reading yesterday that despite how bad The Happening is, between foreign and US box office receipts it has already made more than double what Lady in the Water made.

I thought Lady in the Water was a beautiful and well done film. I loved it and, in fact, own it on DVD and watch it every couple of months or so. I think its message of our interconnectedness is right on. I thought the characters were developed well, were interesting, and I cared about all of them. (I even shed a tear for Mr Farber.) Its use of humor was subtle, believable, and brought poignancy to the characters.

I had not read reviews of it and frankly was surprised to hear how poorly it fared critically and at the box office. I would have trouble saying which I preferred, it or Signs. I thought The Sixth Sense was OK and The Village passable.