*Note : This review contains spoilers so please do not read it if you intend to see the movie and do not want to anticipate the fun ! *

“The Happening” – a much awaited release from M.Night Shyamalan debuted at a strong # 3 position this weekend with a $ 30 million take. I contributed some money to that total as I saw the movie along with the family. This movie is going to be universally panned by serious critics so I have to take a stand and confess that I enjoyed it. Shyamalan himself has said :

“The No. 1 thing is I want people to say: ‘That was a really fun B-movie.’” (link)

Well, I am saying it : It was a fun B-movie. Just like the Manmohan Desai movies of old: Do not expect any logic to mar the fun.

The movie may well have been titled “Mother Nature bitch -slaps humankind”. The premise is both eerie and illogical : an airborne toxin spreads only in the north-eastern USA. It affects humans by causing neurotransmitters in their brains to misfire resulting in erratic behavior and ultimate suicide. Shyamalan has fun with the premise by dispatching various characters in several ghoulish ways : shooting, hanging , death by lawn equipment (don’t ask!) etc. which resulted in the movie’s “R” rating – a first for the director. If the director really meant this movie to be his salute to the zombie smash-and -grabs of the cold war era, he succeeds. His touch shows throughout the movie by making the everyday seem ominous. Shot in Shyamalan’s native Philadelphia and other parts of Pennsylvania, the movie’s somber mood is accentuated by the overtly dramatic score by James Newton Howard.

Mark Wahlberg ( ex-Calvin Klein underwear model , rapper and unforgettable portrayer of a pornstar) plays a high school science teacher fleeing the silent menace along with emotionally unavailable wife (played by Zooey Deschanel) and 8-year old ward Jess ( played by newcomer Ashlyn Sanchez). Wahlberg is impressive in bits. Zooey mostly phones her part in (luckily enough she is supposed to be blank-faced most of the movie!). John Leguizamo ( an old crush of mine!) shows up in a fairly well-played cameo as Jess’ father Julian. The movie mostly follows the characters as they attempt to escape the menace by fleeing into interior Pennsylvania.

Shyamalan’s greatest triumph is also his greatest tragedy. He will always be held up to the almost impossibly high standard that “The Sixth Sense ” set- and will be found wanting every time. Still, I found that with “The Happening”, he cleverly manages to tap into the fear that hovers over us – the urban angst that followed the cold war, nuclear proliferation, global warming, isolation and the general loss of innocence. Some scenes display nice irony – like the time the fleeing group shelters in a suburban home – that turns out to be a model home complete with fake books and fake sushi. Early on in the film, various characters speculate on the possibility that the entire event is a terrorist attack. Sadly, this is a more probable scenario than the director’s ultimate premise.

I don’t want to give away much more of the film- one thing to note is that Shyamalan does not really have a “twist” in this film and also does not appear in person on screen (unlike every other one of his films where he makes a cameo appearance). Look out for his voice as the person on the other end of the phone in a minor sub-plot though!

The desi quotient of this film is fairly high. The movie is a UTV production and Ronnie Screwvala is credited as a producer, something we reported on UD more than a year back. [UD link]

Go and see it – its silly summer fun !

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