Just what is Happening?

My newest post is a review for th film The Happening....

Central Park suddenly gets a strange eerie wind blowing through it and people start to become disorientated and confused and then end up killing themselves. The news starts hearing about it and soon an emergency is called and people start fleeing the city. The initial speculation is a terrorist attack, but when the strange happenings start to move all over the North East of America it becomes apparent that this is not the case.

Scientist and teacher Elliot Moore decides that he and wife must flee. They decided to go tot eh cottage in country belonging to friend Julian. They meet at the train station and are soon on their way to the cottage. Unfortunately the air born virus has travelled and the train is forced to stop leaving all the passenger stranded. Julian ahs not heard from his wife and so decides that he must go in search of her, leaving his daughter, Jess, in the hands of Elliot and wife Alma. They go in search of safety but it soon becomes apparent that the virus is a lot closer than they thought.

Can Elliot, Alma and Jess find safety and just what is causing the population to kill themselves?

I thought this film sounded very good when reading about it in my TV guide so both me and hubby decided it was worth a watch. We did enjoy it but felt that there was so much missing from it to make it a top class film. The story was good and although it was a type of disaster film it was a different take on one and it worked very well. The problem which we had was the fact that nothing really got explained to us. We had some ideas thrown around in the film and some indications as to what could be happening but none of them were told as final and so we were both left with quite a few unanswered questions at the end of the film.

The acting from all involved was quite good. The role of Elliot was played by Mark Wahlberg and he came across as a strong dependable character who was quite knowledgeable. I liked how he was strong and took people under his wing. There was a good little connection with him and wife Alma but I felt a lot was being held back. Alma was played by Zooey Deschanel and she was very good. I liked her free spirit type of attitude and felt she really grew as the film moved on. She showed a very caring side and maternal nature when taking care of Jess and I felt she took to this aspect of her character very well. There were a few times when I felt she could have put more emotion it o her lines but overall she played a good part.

We had some good support characters in the film and they were a good mix of people. Some of the actors included, John Leguizamo, Ashlyn Sanchez, and Betty Buckley. I liked the mix and felt they did bring a little depth to the story.

The film was set at the start in Central Park but we did move very quickly to the countryside. I enjoyed the setting and felt there was some very good and pleasant scenery shown to us. I did enjoy the setting and felt this would not have worked as well if we would have stayed in the big cities. The costumes were also good and as this was a modern film not much effort was needed for them.

There were some good parts to the film which required the use of special effects and CGI and for me it was all of a good high standard and some of the scenes with the suicides were actually had to watch. I felt some of the parts were not necessary and just made the film uncomfortable to watch. I think a lot could have been left to the imagination. I felt the music was good and fitting for the film, it helped give and eerie feel to the story and I felt it was well created and enjoyable to listen to.

I am only reviewing the film so there are no bonus features to mention. The running time of the film is 91 minutes and the rate is a 15. I felt the running time was good with the story moving at a steady pace from start to finish and I agree with the rate. There were some gruesome parts in the film with the suicides and due to the subject of the story this is not suitable for the younger audience.

I would have loved to have been able to give this film a higher rate but as it stands it gets 3 stars. The story was good as it had lots of potential and I felt he actors could have given slight more emotions and feelings to their lines. The ending was disappointing as both me and hubby were left with lots of unanswered questions. Try to catch this if it comes on the TV again but I would not recommend wasting money to buy the DVD.