The Happening

I watched this film the other night after it had been sitting around on my coffee table for at least a week (I am so swamped right now).  M. Night Shyamalan definitely understands how to tell a suspenseful story – put broken people in a bewildering, disorienting situation and then slowly crank up the tension and raise the stakes.  As a horror or suspense film, it worked OK.  There also were some beautiful shots – I distinctly remember a scene with Zooey Deschanel’s dress blowing in the wind against a backdrop of the green fields.

It is always a little sad when the actors you grew up with, or were considered to be heartthrobs,  start to hit middle age.  Both John Leguiziamo and Mark Wahlberg were playing roles that showed they are starting to hit the middle of their careers – they were both fathers and teachers.