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The Happening' May Be Wounded By Its Own Gore

Posted on: Monday, 14 July 2008, 15:00 CDT

Movie Review

TAYLOR BUNDY, 17

Freestyle Staff Writer

I hate horror movies. I loathe their suspenseful, pulsing music and unrealistic-but-gruesome gore. I despise the feeling of dread that accompanies me to the dark of my bedroom and encourages insomnia.

But all biases aside, The Happening is a good film. Even more so, it's a good story. Sure, I cringed with apprehension and eventually began to cover my eyes more than reach for popcorn, but, even with all my prejudices against the genre, I didn't hate it.

Director and screenwriter M. Night Shyamalan's film is at first difficult to categorize. One minute, two women are sitting on a bench in bustling Central Park and the next, all passersby in the vicinity self-destruct. Is this the dawning of a psychological thriller? New-age biological warfare flick? Apocalyptic doomsday parade of death and destruction? Most inclusively, it's all of the above.

Major United States cities appear to have been hit by some sort of terrorist attack. Outdoor areas are targeted by a chemical agent which ceases human movement, induces delusion and forces its victims to suicide. According to speculating scientists, the substance causes the self-preservation neurotransmitter in the brain to shut down.

Soon enough, the epidemic spreads from the Big Apple to the City of Brotherly Love, where Philadelphia High School science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) lectures about a mysterious natural occurrence quite similar to that in New York, of which he is yet unaware. Along with all of the school's teachers, Moore is pulled from his classroom and privately informed of the disaster's proximity threat.

Sometimes, it's easy to predict a movie's key plot elements. Shyamalan weaves innumerable hints into the film's plot, but they are most often dead-end implications. Nonetheless, these red herrings speckle the movie with mystery and are conducive to never- ending guessing games. I found myself postulating for all 91 minutes of the movie.

After the Philadelphia incident, Moore, his math-teaching buddy Julian (John Leguizamo), Julian's daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez) and Elliot Moore's spacey wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) board an escape train for western Pennsylvania. Suspense ensues as the group waits in anxiety for Julian's perpetually behind-schedule wife to catch the next train. When she doesn't show, call or text, and the westbound train is forced to end its journey in a rural and remote Pennsylvania town, Julian decides to set off in search of his wife. He hitches a ride with others who share a similar recovery mission, but not without leaving 8-year-old Jess in the care of Elliot and Alma.

At this point, the couple's growing unity is evident. Somewhat divided by Alma's concealed not-exactly-affair with a co-worker, they are now forced to set aside any and all differences for the sake of surrogate daughter Jess.

Deschanel's character is lackluster at best. The science teacher's wife plays a role that consists of nothing more than whining and an occasional near-meltdown. The whole dating-a-co- worker design seems superfluous and only enhances her seemingly selfish persona. Although she later suits Jess as a caring and concerned mother figure, for the most part, Deschanel's acting is insubstantial and not up to par with the downbeat-cynic role she dominated in Failure to Launch (2006).

In contrast, Wahlberg is the little engine that could. From the start, he adopts a steadfast scientific approach to the situation at hand. While others resort to panic and selfishness, Elliot drafts a hypothesis to explain the tragedy. In one instance after the film's halfway point, Elliot endures a test of character that exemplifies the depth of his determination. Unlike his on-screen wife, Wahlberg plays a dynamic and varied role.

The plot is fueled by a few eccentric background characters, including a plant-worshipping couple who take Elliot and Alma under their wing, an addled elderly woman who does nothing of the sort and a nervous young military man whose tragicomical earnestness is both heartbreaking and laughable. As another of Shyamalan's could-be plot twists, the film's oddballs appear to really be onto something. Maybe they are.

The Happening doesn't have a mere ending; it has an artfully elusive conclusion. Although I was repeatedly frustrated by Shyamalan's failure to tie up all possible loose ends with the symbolism I thought was fitting, the director's scattered tactics support the message of the film. In the end, a proposed reason for the destruction seems plausible, but cause does not always point to cure. Maybe this happening really is an act of nature that really cannot be explained, or avoided.

The film is not without political message, specifically that of environmental concern, but the subtle morals and propaganda are not trite. In fact, the symbolism and political representation really do seem appropriate. The Happening is rated R for violent images; as a horror film it is at times pretty graphic. In a way, it seems as if this film tries too hard for horror, and its gruesome scenes detract from the characters'-and viewers'-enlightenment. But fear factor aside, the film is a thought-provoking story that really, really encourages viewers to think.

Originally published by Taylor Bundy; 17.

(c) 2008 Intelligencer Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

Source: Intelligencer Journal

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