There's a long tradition of receiving messages from burning bushes, but jiggling bushes are not to be trusted, and neither are filmmakers who ask us to shiver in their leafy midst.
Comment
06/13/08
The Happening (2008)
18
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:169
Fresh:31
Rotten:138
Average Rating:4.1/10
Consensus: The Happening begins with promise, but unfortunately descends into an incoherent and unconvincing trifle.
Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
US Box Office: $64,384,941
Synopsis: M. Night Shyamalan directs this thriller about a science teacher (Mark Wahlberg) who tries to escape with his wife and friend's daughter after an apocalyptic event. THE HAPPENING costars Zooey... [More]
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo, Betty Buckley
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Reviews for The Happening
101 - 120 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Not a complete return to form (by far), but also not a failure. Let's be fair--this is the best film Shyamalan has put out in years.
06/13/08
No one will watch any of Shyamalan's recent films twice. A movie that features Wahlberg suggesting everyone try to outrun the wind can barely be watched once.
06/13/08
The final explanation, which comes as no surprise, is more preposterous than profound. If you want to see a scary movie about humans wreaking havoc on their planet, watch An Inconvenient Truth instead.
06/13/08
The attention paid to [Wahlberg and Deschanel's] piddling relationship woes vs. the entire fate of humanity is absurd. We never feel persuaded that they have a bond, much less invested in seeing them patch it up.
06/13/08
Wahlberg turns in one of his worst performances ever, but then he's saddled with preposterous scenes (like one where he tries to placate a ficus) and such lame lines as "Could this really be happening?" Funny, I was wondering the same thing myself.
06/13/08
A subtle, measured work, which means there will be many who find it dull and pointless.
06/13/08
It's creepy, silly fun. And if it came from anyone else, it would be recognized as such. One thing is certain: The man hasn't lost his ability to entertain.
06/13/08
Basically it's a half-hour Twilight Zone episode blown up to feature length.
06/13/08
Nobody gets the time or the treatment to become a character you'd actually care about, which makes the general planet-in-peril theme of the movie kind of moot.
06/13/08
No mere actor could possibly escape the toxic dialogue oozing from M. Night's pen -- that's merciless.
06/13/08
It's downright stupid.
06/13/08
The shock value wears off quickly and writer-director Shyamalan strands us in a boring cautionary tale with an infantile eco-message about humanity needing to live in harmony with nature -- or else.
06/13/08
Mr. Shyamalan is plagued by a bad case of Robin Williams Syndrome, characterized by a desire to inspire and change the world through mediocre entertainment – in this case, accompanied by ample and frequently creative bloodshed.
06/13/08
If this was the movie to rescue the reputation of self-styled genius Shyamalan after the disaster of Lady in the Water, then it's back to the old drawing board.
06/13/08
Shyamalan's approach is more effective than smash-and-grab plot-mongering. His use of the landscape is disturbingly effective. The performances by Wahlberg and Deschanel bring a quiet dignity to their characters.
06/13/08
Top CriticA comeback for the director, but not quite enough of one...an almost equal combination of genuine creepiness and absolute foolishness.
06/13/08
...bad in more than just an everyday, sure-does-suck kind of way.
06/13/08
The film becomes less comprehensible as it goes along, and the audience -- expecting a patented M. Night ending -- is left with no answers, explanation, or narrative closure.
06/13/08
It's also a bit sneaky of Shyamalan to set us up for a paranoid 9/11 thriller and then go all Greenpeace on us. He's trying to be socially conscious but he doesn't have the reformist's temperament. He has the temperament of a self-infatuated messiah.
06/13/08
Latest News for The Happening
January 21, 2009:
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No awards season would be complete without the Golden Raspberry Awards (AKA The Razzies), awarded each year to the very worst movies to hit Hollywood. This year's winners will... More...
July 06, 2008:
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Despite a critical panning, Hancock scores at the Box Office. More...
June 19, 2008:
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Two big star-driven studio comedies invade North American multiplexes on Friday giving audiences even more choices during what has been a scorching hot June box office. Steve... More...
June 16, 2008:
WNYC RADIO: A numbing polemical morality tale in dreary doomsday thriller clothing, this dull downer for all its mass panic attack high alert mode, may be more effective in unintentionally boring people to death. 
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