Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan's eco-thriller starts with a clever premise and degenerates into spooky atmospherics, portentous pacing and stiff dialogue.
Comment
06/12/08
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
Somewhere in The Happening there's a great movie struggling to break free. The concept is fantastic... but poor dialogue combined with even worse performances make for a disappointing and frustrating 90 minutes of film.
06/12/08
mia ap' tis pio akompses, proheires kai hontrokommenes doyleies poy mporeis na petyheis se aithoysa
06/12/08
It's a shame that the movie is such a tonal failure, because it does many other things right.
06/12/08
The movie demonstrates a smart movie geek's obsession with the rhythms and gory details of horror storytelling, undermined by a pompous insistence on spiritual lessons of the tritest kind.
06/11/08
One-hit-wonder M. Night Shyamalan further galvanizes the nickname given him by his detractors ("Shyamalama-ding-dong") with yet another pretentious movie.
06/11/08
The movie seems more like a '50s science fiction film of extreme paranoia or an episode of "The Twilight Zone" that even at a swiftly paced 90 minutes feels padded.
06/11/08
Effective nonsense, chilling nonsense, occasionally wrenching nonsense.
06/11/08
Shhht. Don't say it out loud, but we actually kinda liked M. Night Shyamalan's latest movie . . .
06/11/08
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