Weekly Review -- Not exactly eventful

The Happening (2008) -- Talk about a disappointment. Take a story with unlimited potential, possible elements of surprise and interesting locations, and what do you get? A jumbled, boring, random predicament of a movie, if you ask M. Night Shyamalan. On a day like today, a strange event takes over the East Coast. People start "switching off" -- losing focus, distancing themselves, hallucinating, and ultimately committing suicide. After getting word on the occurrences, science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) and his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) leave their Philadelphia home, with fellow teacher Julian (John Leguizamo) and his daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez) in tow. After escaping to a rural area, Elliot starts figuring out just what is taking place and who is behind the seemingly biochemical attack... There are so many problems with this movie, that it is hard to know where to start. The lazy writing is the primary one. The twists are non-existent and the resolution to the mystery is bland; the filmmakers should have explored some of the ideas presented at the very end instead. On another note, viewers should be playing a drinking game whenever a line containing the word "happening" pops up -- hey, that is an idea. As far as the acting goes, rare is a film capable of making its own cast unnoticeable and irrelevant. Mark Wahlberg, whose range generally consists of three emotions -- surprise, anger and determination -- is completely miscast as a teacher, managing to miss the right affect almost on the dot. Deschanel fares a bit better as his wife, but even her trademark offbeat vulnerability is buried somewhere beneath the horrendous screenplay. The gore does not add anything to the story and the supporting characters are not quirky, or even remotely interesting; they are redundant and not given anything to endear them to the audience. The metaphors are a whole other tricky issue. The environmentalist discourse is heavy-handed, while some parts near the end are preachy to the point of being offensive. Evoking Adam, Eve and creationism must count as a desperate bid to save a movie, not to mention that it makes absolutely no sense in the context. The only exciting thing about The Happening is the trailer, and you do not even have to leave your residence to see it. It is unbelievable that the same man who brought us the intense originality of The Sixth Sense is responsible for this incoherent mess. Avoid at all costs.

3/10