The Happening – DVD Review

Film, Reviews, Top Story

Available at Amazon.com

M. Night Shyamalan has always presented his films in a rather deep and disturbing manner; only to have them turn out to be something good or not anything like what you were thinking. By now we know Shyamalan as the guy who is going to bring about some crazy twist that makes us sit up at the end of the film and exclaim, “You’ve gotta be frickin’ kidding me?” We’ve seen him bring ghosts into the picture and we’ve seen him portray aliens who are afraid of water. He’s brought a bedtime story to life and also made a comic book a reality. Some love his work while others hate it, but what if he was to change his entire methodical approach to film? Would our opinions change?

Something strange is going on in New York. Ordinary and everyday people are suddenly freezing in place wherever they are and then violently taking their own lives. Originally believed to be a terrorist attack, people are taking all precautions to stay out of the area where this chemical warfare is taking place. They are evacuating to places outside the city and trying to keep calm, but word is spreading fast. Within hours it has spread to Philadelphia and all across the Northeastern United States. We follow along with a schoolteacher named Elliott and his wife Alma have evacuated with his coworker and his daughter. They are doing whatever they can to figure out what is causing this weird event to happen and how they can stay alive.

Warning! You’re going to get spoilers to this film in both the review and the special features section so if you don’t want it ruined for you, move on.

That may seem like a really simple explanation of the plot, but that’s honestly all there is. Not that there is anything wrong with it being so simplistic because some of the best films are based on very easy storylines, but that isn’t where the problems lie with The Happening. First of all the film is unlike most other Shyamalan flicks that I’ve seen before. No defense was necessary for The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, or Signs. But then I put my neck and reputation on the line defending the hell out of The Village and especially Lady in the Water because I thought both were excellent. They had good mystery along with some fantastic action that ended with a twist which took my train of thought to new lengths in order for me to pull it all together. That is the beauty that Shyamalan has always presented in his films; making you remember everything you just watched and catching the small clues to the reality. Sadly, The Happening veers away from this productive formula.

Let me just say that it isn’t all bad because the idea behind the planet beginning a revolution against the humans that have treated it so badly is brilliant. I mean whose to say that couldn’t possibly happen someday because of how horribly people treat the world with pollution, litter, toxic waste, deforestation, and everything else brought about to harm the ozone, wildlife, and wilderness. Earth has finally had enough of all this and knew global warming wasn’t doing the job quickly enough so it decided to take charge and force people to kill themselves. It is sheer genius, but it was wasted here. By the time everything is said and done we’re just left hanging. The end of the epidemic just occurs and then three months later, everyone is happy-go-lucky. Then…OH NO, it happens in another part of the world. Come on man, we know there’s not going to be a sequel to this film so give us some kind of resolution or something. Bah!

Let’s move onto the next biggest problem and that’s the acting. I didn’t really expect that to be an issue considering the cast is pretty damn good. Leguizamo has proven to me time and time again he can play virtually any role, and I had no real problems with him. Let’s start with Zooey Deschanel who hasn’t shown me much more, but she’s shown me more then this flat and totally underwhelming performance. You’d think this was her first acting appearance. Second of all is Mark Wahlberg who gives a performance here which is reminiscent of one of his first roles in Fear. He just shows virtually no emotion in his troubled marriage or to the events going on around him. Let me not forget to mention the fact that he is totally unbelievable as a teacher as well. But it’s more then that as he just seems to be forcing the lines out instead of reading them fluently, and a prime example is his conversation with Mrs. Jones on the night she accuses them of wanting to kill her. His very childlike and ridiculous sounding “What? No!” is just laughable and completely ruins a tense moment.

Ok, I’m going to quit now because the film has a great premise and a good cast of actors that are plagued by a severe case of “not being able to act-itis” for ninety minutes. Shyamalan has disappointed me for the first time, and I sincerely hope he has done it to enough of his fans so that he doesn’t do it again. But I’m afraid that he is proud of his work here and may finally be heading away from his traditional “twist” that he throws in at the end of all his films. Sad, because when I put the DVD in and began watching it, all I could do was wonder what I’d be led to believe before the twist up and shattered it. I had to focus on something because the action go started so fast in the film that it didn’t give me a chance to care much about any of the characters on screen. So much potential, so little enjoyment.

The film is shown in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen and it looks as good as it is going to for a screener disc, but it will surely improve on the actual DVD release.

The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and it actually comes off quite well from the screener. All dialogue can be heard clearly even when the characters are whispering which happens quite often. The music is fantastic and actually adds more to the film then much else going on does.

Deleted Scenes – There are four deleted scenes, all of which can be viewed with or without introductions from Shyamalan. Three of them are simply extended scenes of what is already in the film so nothing is really that different or important except for one. The scene where the two boys are shot is shown in much more detail here and would have been much better if left in.

The Hard Cut – M. Night Shyamalan has always been known as the guy who brings about the odd twists and also is nothing but PG-13. This nine minute feature discusses how there is a lot darker stuff in the film and it includes much more graphic things then his previous films. And it is odd that they have this feature because it kind of hit me during the middle of the film that some of the deaths are more then you’d expect to see in a Shyamalan film. But the problem is that the camera cuts away before giving the full effect of what happened in those deaths. There is barely any blood and nothing is ever shown to receive the R-rating they got on the film. One good example is when the two kids are shot at the old house. The camera cuts away before showing the results of the gunshots and giving the audience a bit more of a sympathetic feeling towards their deaths.

“I Hear You Whispering” – This feature looks at the character of Mrs. Jones and goes into great detail about who she is and what she believes. Let me just tell you that there was apparently a lot more to her then I even remotely got while watching the film. Never in my wildest dreams did I think of what they were trying to accomplish with her. I’ll give them credit though because Mrs. Jones is the character with the most personality in The Happening. This feature runs just over four minutes.

The Happening – Visions Of The Happening: A Making Of – This eleven minute and fifty-three second feature does show some behind the scenes type stuff, but we get a lot of background information from Shyamalan as well as other members of the cast and crew.

A Day For Night – A handheld camera follows around our director/producer/writer for a day as he goes from his trailer to the set of The Happening and back again. We get to see him on the set filming scenes and interacting with the actors as to what they should do and how the scenes should be filmed. It’s also kind of fun watching him when cameras aren’t rolling so we can see how he is with everyone on the set in just a common setting. This feature runs six minutes and forty-five seconds.

Elements of A Scene – The scene at hand is the one where Julian is in the jeep with some strangers and they crash into a tree before he sits down and slices his wrists in the street. Computer models, storyboards, and preparations are shown in the lead-up to the final scene. Interestingly enough, Shyamalan says his initial idea was to have one seamless shot where the car speeds up into the tree, bodies fly out the windows, Julian goes into the street, sits down slitting his wrists, and the camera closes in to show the blood spurting out. Of course that couldn’t be done at the safety of the actors, but it certainly would have been more effective in my opinion. This feature runs ten minutes.

Gag Reel – Not so much your run-of-the-mill gag reel as this is just two and a half minutes of everyone goofing around on the set.

TrailersStreet Kings, Mirrors, and Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead


Wow, being someone who is a huge Shyamalan fan; I was incredibly disappointed. Many people shout his name from the rafters for avoiding the “twist” with this film, but not having one made me feel like it wasn’t even his work. It’s like taking the oddity away from Tim Burton or the backwardsness from Quentin Tarantino or the morose feeling from every Clint Eastwood picture. That was what people learned to live with from his past films which I loved, but was left missing something here. Not to mention that the acting was incredibly second rate for a crop of stars that could do a much better job. The special features are pretty decent, but not even a commentary? What the hell is that about? Having maybe Wahlberg and Shyamalan sit down and discuss the film would have given a little bit more as to what they were trying to accomplish here. It was great getting some of the deeper information that the special features gave, but it wasn’t enough. Go for a rental here, but all the bad press you’ve heard about this film is most likely going to ring true. I say that as someone who has not seen a film by Shyamalan that I haven’t yet liked, but The Happening just ruined the streak.

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20th Century Fox presents The Happening. Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan. Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo, Ashlyn Sanchez, Betty Buckley, Frank Collison, and more. Written by: M. Night Shyamalan. Running time: 91 minutes. Rating: R. Released on DVD: October 7, 2008. Available at Amazon.com