Infinite MonkeysSometimes, a trailer tells you too much about a movie. I think the latest "Hancock" trailer gives away entirely too much. Other times, that two-minute preview tells you everything what you need to know. When the biggest selling point of "The Happening" is that it's M. Night Shyamalan's first R-rated film, that should be reason enough to stay far from the multiplex. And indeed, despite a promising opening weekend, audiences have stayed away in droves.
Critics, however, have done us the favor of giving "The Happening" the thrashing it so obviously deserves. Joseph Rago in The Wall Street Journal calls it a "moral obscenity." The Mighty Kyle Smith simply dubbed it "The Crappening." And Christopher Orr of the New Republic doesn't review "The Happening", but offers rather -- in Orr's words -- "a spoiler-laden list of its most laughably terrible parts." (Hat tip: Lisa for the Orr link, and Dirty Harry for the Journal and Smith posts.)
What's Shyamalan's problem, anyway? I've actually liked every Shyamalan picture, with the exception of "Lady in the Water," which I haven't seen. Could be the Shyamalan "twist" has become a cliché of the thriller. Could be that Shyamalan has an overly inflated sense of his talents -- although he's clearly a clever enough screenwriter with a keen photographic eye. Maybe Shyamalan's problem is that he's too clever for his own audience? Of "The Happening," the writer-director has said he wanted to make "the best B movie you will ever see." So "The Happening" is about how trees rebel against mankind by spreading a mass-suicide-inducing toxin and nothing more.
Yeah. And I see dead people.
Posted by Ben at June 24, 2008 01:16 AMBen! You could have at least shared Christopher Orr's terrific lead:
M. Night Shyamalan's latest movie, The Happening, is not merely bad. It is an astonishment, so idiotic in conception and inept in execution that, after seeing it, one almost wonders whether it was real or imagined. It's the kind of movie you want to laugh about with friends, swapping favorite moments of inanity: "Do you remember the part when Mark Wahlberg ... ?" "God, yes. And what about that scene where the wind ... ?"
Sounds entertaining! I might actually see it now ... on DVD.
Posted by: Dr. Zaius at June 24, 2008 08:08 AM"Could be that Shyamalan has an overly inflated sense of his talents"
I think "could be" is probably being gracious. I've also liked all of his movies - including "Lady in the Water," for the most part. But the latter film certainly was an indication of his descent into narcissism.
[SPOILER ALERT!!!!]
In the film, a character has written a book which contains (unspecified) personal reflections and political ideas that will LITERALLY TRANSFORM THE WORLD and make everybody get along, yadda yadda yadda. What actor does MNS select to play this accidental messiah? In a Cheney-esque move, he naturally selects himself.
[END SPOILER]
What was he thinking? Hard to say. With people like Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez building entire careers out of making high-quality B movies, I can't imagine why Shyamalamadingdong believed he could pull the "best...you will ever see" on his first go-round.
Ah, well. I do confess that I will probably, like Dr. Zaius, rent the movie on iTunes or DVD just for the trainwreck value. Perhaps his real goal was to make the best Ed Wood movie you will ever see?
Posted by: Monkey RobbL at June 24, 2008 09:09 AM