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The Happening
The Happening
**1/2
While other critics are coming up with new and increasingly colorful ways to criticize M. Night Shyamalan, I can’t help but admire the guy.
He certainly has guts. He knew that his fans were expecting a frightening R-rated horror film. He delivered an eco-friendly message movie instead.
The writer/director of “The Sixth Sense” knew that his fans were counting on a shocking twist in the final act. Instead, he ends “The Happening” abruptly, using the conclusion to emphasize his green agenda.
Unless he is way out of touch with , Shyamalan knew that this picture would NOT be a crowd-pleaser and that its preachiness would rub most people the wrong way. But the filmmaker used the freedom that he earned by making blockbusters to produce an eccentric, personal movie. I salute him for his courageous, uncompromising nature.
Mark Wahlberg stars as Elliot Moore, a high school science teacher in Philadelphia. When he hears reports that a mysterious terrorist attack on New York City has killed thousands, he decides to flee the city with his young wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel), who doesn’t seem to like Elliot very much.
A toxin has been unleashed that attacks the brain and causes the self-preservation instinct to go into reverse. As soon as a person is infected, he promptly finds the quickest way to kill himself. If you want to see people slicing their arteries with glass or running over themselves with lawn mowers, this is definitely the movie for you!
As Elliot and Alma race around Pennsylvania to avoid the spreading plague, Elliot slowly pieces together what is happening. It turns out that it is not a terrorist attack at all. It’s something much weirder.
Basically, the plants of the world have come to regard humans as a threat and have evolved to the point where they can use biological warfare to destroy us.
It sounds ridiculous. Well, actually it is totally ridiculous. The moral of the story only makes sense if you’re the kind of environmentalist who regards Mother Nature as an infallible hero and humanity as her arch enemy.
That being said, the premise is original and thought-provoking. It’s the sort of plot that makes you want to discuss the film after it is over.
A big problem that Shyamalan has is that he establishes that his two lead characters are suffering with a failed marriage but he never explains why or satisfactorily resolves the issue.
Let’s face it: Shyamalan is not a normal man and he struggles when he tries to create average-guy characters. In his world, every person is either morose or deeply disturbed. Relatively well-adjusted, happy viewers are never going to fully relate to his vision or find much truth in his miserable characters.
The scenes where people infected by the toxin kill themselves are intended to be powerful and upsetting. Instead, they are gross and laughable.
“The Happening” is deeply flawed. But it is interesting and original. And it has a genuine purpose even if I don’t agree with it.
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