by Karyn L. Beach

Okay, I'm going to go against the critical tide and say that I really enjoyed The Happening. I try not to go into a movie with preconceived notions; but I have to admit, after Lady in the Water and The Village, I had my misgivings. I was pleasantly surprised.

Written, produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, the premise is simple: starting in Central Park, an 'event' occurs that causes people to inexplicably kill themselves. Meanwhile, outside of New York, in Philadelphia the news hits a local high school. Science teacher Elliott (Mark Wahlberg) and his friend, math teacher, Julian (John Leguizamo) decide to head out of town to Julian's mom's house in the country. Along with Elliott's wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) and Julian's eight-year old daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez), they try to outrun the event that is spreading like wildfire.

This was a truly suspenseful movie up until the last 10-15 minutes. I (along with the rest of the audience) jumped several times. It really did keep me engaged. I wanted to know why The Happening was happening. The reason is something that Al Gore could get behind. The inconvenient truth, according to Shyamalan is that we've messed up the planet and the plants want us to pay!

Shyamalan avoids showing the obligatory big-budget scenes of pandemonium and mayhem and wisely keeps the story small. Wahlberg and newcomer Sanchez make the film as the science teacher trying to make sense of the senseless acts going on around him and the little girl who's world is turned completely upside down. There is also a creepy performance by Betty Buckley as a hermetic woman who lives alone with no contact with the outside world.

The problem with Shyamalan is that he was in danger of being a one-trick pony. After the wildly successful Sixth Sense, everyone expected a big twist of an ending. His attempts to provide that have ruined his last few films. This time around the ending is not twisty but anti-climatic and not quite satisfying.

In the end, Shyamalan jumps up on his environmental soapbox and beats us over the head with the film's message. I could have done without all that, but up until that point, I was on board.