The Happening

...and whilst on the topic of combative trees...

Something eerie is happening in the parks and fields of North Eastern United States. M Night Shyamalan's latest offering is The Happening. Like millions of people I was deceived brilliantly by Shyamalan's first effort, The Sixth Sense. I have seen each of his subsequent films with expectation only to be disappointed as each has fallen short of his brilliant debut.

I read today that Shyamalan aimed to make the best ever B-grade movie with this effort. He has half succeeded. It certainly has the B-grade style but as for being the best?

I think the mark of a good suspense film is one that wraps its incredible parts in a covering of reality. The Sixth Sense contained fine acting and cleverly deceptive scenes of conversations.

The acting falls well short in The Happening. Mark Wahlberg's gentle, almost whispering, voice undermines his position as the film's authority figure. Zooey Deschanel delivers a wide eyed performance of such eccentricity I assume it was either deliberately intended as a red herring or else she was on a high throughout filming. The representation of their relationship is mysterious and distracting.

The best performance is given by Betty Buckley in a cameo appearance in the final third of the film. Had the other performers matched her, this film could have been quite stunning.

Nevertheless, The Happening will make useful home DVD viewing on cold and windy nights.