Nature hates calculators.

It occurs to me as I sit here staring at my monitor that this is going to be one of the most frustrating film reviews that I have ever written. I have spent a sizable chunk of my afternoon pondering how to approach M. Night Shyamalan's newest film The Happening, and I believe that the best course of action will be to quickly summarize my feelings on his previous works in order to set the stage adequately. Bear with me as I muddle through this.


So, in a nutshell: I thought The Sixth Sense was fantastic, but did not think it was as fabulous as most other people. Remind me some time and I'll tell you about how an acquaintance all but ruined it for me in the parking lot of the theater just before going in. Number of viewings: twice--once in the theater, once of DVD (I have actually been feeling the desire recently to see it again). Unbreakable is my absolute favorite of his films, and numbers among my top ten comic related films. Bruce Willis gives a subtle and vulnerable performance in this film that I continually find irresistible. Number of viewings: twice in the theater, and numerous times on DVD.

Moving on, I have similar feelings about both Signs and The Village: deeply flawed films with interesting character interactions and stellar performances by their casts. Number of viewings: I saw them both once each in the theater, and somewhere around 2-3 times each on DVD. Lady in the Water...ho-boy. I tried to convince myself that I liked this film, mostly out of loyalty to Shyamalan. But this movie is just bad in most every way. Number of viewings: once in the theater, and somewhere around the first fifteen or so minutes on DVD before being forced to turn it off out of disgust.

Which brings us back to The Happening; number of viewings: once, on DVD. Upon consideration I am actually kind of glad that I did not see it in the theater. I had a horrible theater experience with The Blair Witch Project back in 1999, and to this day remain confident that I may have actually enjoyed it had I seen it at home with the lights off. Some films just work better on the glass teat rather than the silver screen, and I feel this is the case with The Happening, as a sense of claustrophobia brought on by being inside your own home while watching what could be at times a news report adds to the experience.

I am not quite sure how to relate this film to Shyamalan's prior work. The film's message is delivered in an often heavy handed fashion, the directing is not up to the bar that Shyamalan normally adheres to, the script could have used another once over (some of the plot devices are extremely laughable), and with the exception of Mark Wahlberg most of the performances seem either wooden or aimless. It would be easy to pick on some of the more painful plot devices as well, but I find myself willing to let them slide; maybe I am easing up in my old age, who knows. I am extremely sensitive to the movie's many flaws, but found myself entertained nonetheless.

As for the good, The Happening never pulls a single punch, which although uncomfortable to watch is also necessary for the film to have impact. I generally dislike realistic violence in cinema, but the discomfort brought on by watching people kill themselves in such mundane ways was at times very chilling. Although milady Zooey Deschanel often seemed out of sorts, her emotional detachment and damage appealed to me ('cuz I'm attracted to the walking wounded and all). She and Wahlberg managed to maintain an estranged chemistry throughout the film, culminating in a couple of nice scenes (especially one funny and touching moment pertaining to cough syrup). I honestly felt that the script could have used more polish, but the movie does have a great deal of heart.

Finally the hard part: a rating. I guess it comes down to watchability. I'm sure that I will watch Unbreakable several more times in my life, because it greatly pleases me. The Sixth Sense, Signs, and The Village may each have a couple viewings left in them, and I will most likely never subject myself to Lady in the Water again. Although I was surprised by and enjoyed The Happening, I doubt I will ever feel the need to see it again, and that fact definitely affects these numbers: 2.75 out of 5.