If what audiences are looking for is a thrill ride, or even a pervasive eeriness, The Happening's just not happening.
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.
Theatrical Release:13-06-2008
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
The Happening features an effectively stylized physical environment: rarely have clouds drifting overhead and wind blowing through trees and a sunny day been filmed so ominously.
06/13/08
The Happening is a film of such shockingly appalling writing, dreadful acting and ham-fisted, ungainly execution that it plays better as a comedy than the thriller it was meant to be.
06/13/08
An impressive thriller which acknowledges the mystery that lies behind the marvels and the terrors of the natural world.
06/13/08
Bad and weird.
06/13/08
Another disappointment from M, despite some disturbing violence and chilly moments.
06/13/08
The movie is a bummer, from beginning to end.
06/13/08
A tantalising, sometimes frustrating parable about the menaces that human beings might face from unexpected quarters.
06/13/08
Maybe Shyamalan has been plugged into those other worlds for too long. Judging from what is on offer here, he needs to become more acquainted with the emotional language of this one.
06/13/08
While hardly his worst work, this film is so far off his high water mark that it begs the question of whether M. Night Shyamalan will ever truly return.
06/13/08
If you have seen the trailers online or on T.V., you can just save your money and wait for the rental on this one. All of the best moments are in the promos.
06/13/08
Nothing happens. Shyamalan has finally taken an ax to his Golden Goose.
06/12/08
Minor Shyamalan, but still well worth seeing.
06/12/08
Suicide bland.
06/12/08
The Happening quickly deteriorates into the worst movie of M. Night Shyamalan's career... and that's saying something.
06/12/08
The actors try and fail to look terrified at things that simply aren't that terrifying to look at, unless you are one of those people who considers "Days of Heaven" to be a relentless excursion in gut-wrenching horror.
06/12/08
But here's the real shocker, the statement that will blow all of your minds... this is one movie that you will be hoping for a twist ending!
06/12/08
M. Night Shyamalan is one of the most talented film-makers working today. But he seems to be running out of ideas.
06/12/08
one of the worst attempts at end-of-the-world ominousness since the Robot Holocaust battled the Ninja Apocalypse
06/12/08
After the insufferably dense mermaid mythology of Lady in the Water, Shyamalan clearly wanted to keep things simple. He whizzed straight past simple to simplistic.
06/12/08
Latest News for The Happening
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June 19, 2008:
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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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