Summary
While strange event causes people to inexplicably kill themselves, a high school science teacher runs around.
My Thoughts
I remember going to go see this movie in theaters, expecting it to be horrifying. The trailers boasted that this was M. Night’s first ‘R’ rated feature, and high school Seth thought that meant it was going to be better than “Sixth Sense”. I heard a few chuckles during the first scene, when ‘the happening’ happens in Central Park, causing people to kill themselves, including a woman that shoves a knitting needle through her neck and a slew of construction workers throwing themselves off a building. The scene had a few creepy images in it, but truthfully it lacked any sort of tension, and it was undercut by truly horrible acting. From there it only gets worse, as Marky Mark comes onscreen for the first time, it becomes apparent he knows how awful the script for this movie is; he just doesn’t care. From beginning to end, Mark Wahlberg phones in his performance, giving off not a single bit of emotion. It actually becomes unintentionally hilarious as he delivers some of the worst dialogue ever to grace the silver screen.
(SOME SPOILERS IN THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH)
Elliot Moore (Wahlberg, “Boogie Nights”) is a science teacher in Philadelphia who must flee when an unexplained phenomenon prompts the human population to start killing themselves. Elliot Moore’s wife, Alma (Zooey Deschanel, “(500) Days of Summer”), and his friend, Julian (John Leguizamo, “John Wick”) and his daughter, Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez, “Crash”) all board a train to flee the city. Eventually the trains stop in the middle of nowhere, leaving Marky Mark stranded and utterly clueless as to what’s going on.
(SPOILERS END)
I was nervous to go back and watch this movie, because I remembered it as such a horrible film. Upon returning, I found I actually enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would. Not in a good way, mind you. This movie is absolute schlock, and Mark Wahlberg knew it. It’s so terrible that it crosses into the so-bad-it’s-good category. There are moments that feel almost tongue and cheek, but I’m not sure if M. Night was doing it intentionally or not. It feels as if he’s trying to play the film completely genuine, but it comes off as so ridiculous that it’s impossible to take any of it serious. I mean there’s literally a scene where Marky Mark is talking to a potted plant as if he’s negotiating a hostage situation. It’s bizarre, but it sure made me laugh.
The writing and directing in this movie are what bring it down the most. I mean, overall, this premise is incredibly stupid, so I can’t imagine this film would’ve turned out too much better, even with a far more competent director. However, there are moments of terribly awkward blocking, lots of boring framing, so much stilted dialogue that it makes my head spin, and actors that just plain can’t act. There are characters that appear just to be killed off, having no influence whatsoever to the plot. Other characters make decisions that go completely against their character personality. My favorite example of this is when John Leguizamo leaves his seven-year-old daughter with Marky Mark and Zooey to head back into the affected area to find his wife, knowing full well he could die, and his wife might be dead already. It makes no sense. There are other moments when characters show up, monologue at Mark for like thirty seconds, and Mark just stares back at them open mouthed and confused.
I find it hard to believe that just two years prior to this Wahlberg received a nomination for his role in “The Departed”. There was no dedication to this role at all, I sincerely believe he realized after showing up on day one that this movie was doomed, and decided to just show up for the paycheck. Everyone else seems to feel the same way. Leguizamo, who I usually like, seemed to almost be sneering at the camera throughout the film, as if to say, “Can you believe this?” Deschanel is fine, but one note, as usual. The old lady at the end, Betty Buckley (“Split”), is particularly hilarious, and some of her dialogue was so funny I actually rewound it to show it to my roommates.
Verdict
This movie is awful, but if you’re looking for unintentional laughs you could watch this, because there are plenty. As far as M. Night goes, this is the worst of his movies that I’ve seen so far, though I still have to see “After Earth” (2013), and that may be worse than this… (Sobs deeply)
This is part of our requested M. Night series, so if you’re a fan of his movies check out our other reviews. If you’ve got a director or topic you’d like us to talk about contact us to let us know!
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