# M. Night fans, cross your fingers: "The Happening" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 21, 2007, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963 "2007-09-21T05:11:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963/1 "2007-09-21T05:11:03Z")
A check on his imdb page shows he is in production on The Happening, which he wrote. I’m surprised by this; I was sure the suits in Hollywood wouldn’t greenlight another one of his scripts, but by god they did. And he managed to get a real cast as well. Sweet! After having finally seen Lady in the Water a couple weeks ago, I just now read all the old threads on it. (And surprisingly, I participated in one of them.) I agree with the complaints from the M. Night fans: wtf is up with “narf” and “scrunt”? Those names were so beyond stupid that it really hurt my appreciation for what little redeeming value that movie had. (But I loves me some Bryce Dallas Howard, so I’ll probably watch it again.) In the interest of full disclosure, I loved The Village, Signs, and Sixth Sense, (in that order,) liked Unbreakable, and thought Lady in the Water was watchable. (Mostly for Howard.) I know, I’m crazy. All you artistic snobs can smugly look down your nose at me; I’m comfortable with how much enjoyment I get out of M. Night’s work. The fact that The Village is by far my favorite of his movies means even the most ardent M. Night fans can look down their nose at me. So after being very disappointed with LitW, and reading the scathing reviews both posted and linked to in the various threads on here, I started bumming out about how M. Night was almost certainly done in the movie business. Not so… A check on [his imdb page](http://imdb.com/name/nm0796117/) shows he is in production on The Happening, which he wrote. I’m surprised by this; I was sure the suits in Hollywood wouldn’t greenlight another one of his scripts, but by god they did. And he managed to get a real cast as well. Sweet! I’ve not heard a peep about this project other than what I sought out just now. [Here](http://www.cinematical.com/2007/07/18/leguizamo-joins-m-nights-the-happening/) is an article noting that **John Leguizamo** just joined the cast which includes **Mark Wahlberg** and **Zooey Deschanel**. As a big fan of both Deschanel sisters, I’m psyched. The plot synopsis from [moviefone](http://movies.aol.com/movie/the-happening/29354/synopsis): > [@](#): > > The Lady in the Water director M. Night Shyamalan puts “PG-13” suspense on pause to tell this grim apocalyptic tale about a family fleeing a natural disaster that poses a grave threat to the whole of humanity. Sounds like it could be good. Is anybody else willing to give this a look, or am I the only person on the face of the planet who hasn’t completely given up on our boy from Pennsylvania? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963/2 "2007-09-21T05:17:44Z")
I liked The Village best as well, though I felt that the secret about the village was unnecesary and detracted from the film by setting up a big sideloop for little purpose than to satisfy Night’s ego. That it was set in modern day. Mark Wahlberg is one of my favorite young actors, so that is encouraging to me. And, like you, I’m a bit impressed that he got the green light, so that might be an indication that the script was impressive. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963/3 "2007-09-21T05:21:13Z")
Is Rerun in this one, or is it just Rog and Dwayne? ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963/4 "2007-09-21T05:22:01Z")
I like him. I haven’t given up on him. LITW was my least-favorite of his so far, but like you, it was worth watching for Bryce Dallas Howard. My list would be The Sixth Sense (still his masterpiece, IMO), Unbreakable, The Village/Signs (I like them both the same) and LITW. Most directors have dodgy films on their resume. He’s allowed a couple too. I think when he’s good, he’s very very good. He generates a lot of ire but I don’t even read those posts anymore. They don’t change how I feel about him. I think that, even when he falters (or fails), he’s _interesting_, and I’m always going to be wanting to see what he does next. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963/5 "2007-09-21T05:53:04Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] Mark Wahlberg is one of my favorite young actors, so that is encouraging to me. And, like you, I’m a bit impressed that he got the green light, so that might be an indication that the script was impressive. [/QUOTE] I like both Wahlberg brothers, but I think it’s a stretch to call Mark a “young” actor considering he was [born in 1971](http://imdb.com/name/nm0000242/). Come to think of it, Wahlberg seems to have pulled a Brad Pitt on me. Rifling through his credits, I like an awful lot of the movies he’s been in, and also his performances in each. Funny how with some actors it takes a bunch of projects you liked them in to realize you’re a fan. (At least for me.) ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963/6 "2007-09-21T06:35:19Z")
I’ve said the same thing in other M. Night threads - I think he’s an extremely tallented director. The way he builds suspense, the editing, cinematography, all wonderful. As a screenwriter, he blew he wad with 6th sense. For those following Doctor Who and know what Steven Moffat is capable of, imagiine one of his stories directed by Night. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963/7 "2007-09-21T10:08:44Z")
[QUOTE=Ellis Dee] I think it’s a stretch to call Mark a “young” actor considering he was [born in 1971](http://imdb.com/name/nm0000242/). [/QUOTE] Hm. Hadn’t realised. Personally, I’d have assumed he was in his upper 20s. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963/8 "2007-09-21T11:35:26Z")
**Unbreakable** was the only one I really didn’t like too much. As far as I’m concerned, he’s batting .800. His curse is that he made his best movie first, but at the very least, I think he’s going to give you something original when you see his movies. That’s more than you can say for a lot of film makers. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963/9 "2007-09-21T12:59:59Z")
[QUOTE=Charlie Tan] I’ve said the same thing in other M. Night threads - I think he’s an extremely tallented director. The way he builds suspense, the editing, cinematography, all wonderful. As a screenwriter, he blew he wad with 6th sense. [/QUOTE] I largely agree. Sixth Sense and most of Unbreakable show he _can_ write, it’s just not his strongest talent. I’d love to see him try an adaptation. Something where he already had a strong story and characters to work with, but that he still had enough freedom to make it in his own style (Stuart Little doesn’t count). ---
**Author:** ![Elret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Elret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elret)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963/10 "2007-09-21T13:25:41Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] I liked The Village best as well, though I felt that the secret about the village was unnecesary and detracted from the film by setting up a big sideloop for little purpose than to satisfy Night’s ego. That it was set in modern day. [/QUOTE] I’ve heard others say this as well, and I don’t really understand. If not for the “secret”, what would the point of the movie have been? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963/11 "2007-09-21T13:32:14Z")
After it was mercilessly panned, here and by pro reviewers, I didn’t see _Lady in the Water_. But I generally like his stuff. _The Sixth Sense_ is and always will be a masterpiece. Great cast, script, plot, twist, etc. _Unbreakable_ and _The Village_ were both pretty good, I thought. _Signs_ was just silly (I know it’s a parable and all, but I still can’t get over an alien race capable of interstellar travel invading a world with so much, you know, water). I’m hopeful that M. Night can do something good with _The Happening_ (from the title, it sounds like it’s going to be about a hippy party, though). ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963/12 "2007-09-21T13:36:24Z")
[What a twist!](http://www.youtube.com/v/C03Rn9EWobY) ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963/13 "2007-09-21T13:47:53Z")
I love M. Night movies. _Lady in the Water_ is my least favorite, but it was still watchable, especially to see Howard and Giamatti. I like the atmosphere of his movies so much that it doesn’t bother me at all when the plot doesn’t make a lick of sense, such as in _Signs_. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963/14 "2007-09-21T14:05:09Z")
The big twist in **The Happening** : nothing happens. ---
**Author:** ![Mooch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mooch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooch)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963/15 "2007-09-21T14:14:13Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] Is Rerun in this one, or is it just Rog and Dwayne? [/QUOTE] Jesus Christ that was funny. ---
**Author:** ![Montgomery0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/0ea827/32.png) [@Montgomery0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montgomery0)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963/16 "2007-09-21T14:16:54Z")
He needs to do 2 things, 1. Don’t show up in the movie 2. Don’t have his name associated with the movie. 1: Well, because he’s not much of an actor, he’s okay but much like Stan Lee, having him in the movie sort of brings you out of it. 2: I think a lot of the reason people are dissatisfied with his films is that they ARE expecting a twist and they do compare it to the experience of the first time they saw the Sixth Sense. And when they do, they go, “wow that wasn’t at all like when we saw the Sixth Sense.” Not knowing he has anything to do with the film, will give you a genuine surprise and you won’t be waiting to find out what whacky plan M. Night has come up with this time. oh and 3: Come up with a different kind of ending. No more, twist! Couple of minutes of useless, then The End. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963/17 "2007-09-21T14:25:55Z")
[QUOTE=Montgomery0] oh and 3: Come up with a different kind of ending. No more, twist! Couple of minutes of useless, then The End. [/QUOTE] I think that is the biggie. The twists seem forced. It worked perfectly in the Sixth Sense. Not so much in others. Every movie doesn’t need a twist. Just make a good movie. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963/18 "2007-09-21T14:33:46Z")
By my count, he put a twist ending in Sixth Sense and The Village. I don’t recall any signature M. Night twist from Unbreakable, Signs, or Lady in the Water. The fact that Samuel L. Jackson was the bad guy in Unbreakable isn’t a twist; that’s the standard formula in comic book stories. Does Smallville have a twist because Clark’s good buddy Lex turns out to be his archenemy? Or Peter Parker’s roommate in the Spiderman movies? Even if you want to argue that Unbreakable had a twist, that’s still only three of five. What were the twists in Signs and Lady in the Water? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963/19 "2007-09-21T14:45:41Z")
Didn’t see LiTW. Signs twist of course came at the end and it followed his formula including flashbacks. Two words, swing away. I agree it’s not much of a twist. I thought that it would wind up that the aliens were all in their head. Would have made more sense than aliens that can be defeated by a spring shower. Smart enough to cross the cosmos, too stupid to avoid a world thats mostly covered in water. For me the Sixth Sense worked perfectly. I went into the theater knowing there was a twist but I managed to avoid hearing what it was. I was determined to figure it out. Maybe I would have except I became so engrossed in the film that I forgot to look for the twist. None of his other films have done that for me. I’m always looking for the hook. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963/20 "2007-09-21T15:07:17Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] Didn’t see LiTW. Signs twist of course came at the end and it followed his formula including flashbacks. Two words, swing away. [/QUOTE] “Swing away” isn’t a twist, it’s foreshadowing. And a Chekhov’s Gun, of course. If there’s something there in an M. Night script, it WILL be important before the end of the movie even if it feels like fluffy filler at the time. He’s just a very economical writer that way. **Ellis Dee** , my list is _The Village_ tied with _Sixth Sense_, then _Signs_; \*Unbreakable \*was great until the last two minutes, when it became only okay, and \*Lady \*was sweet but ultimately unmemorable. I’ve got my fingers crossed for _The Happening_ as well; I just plan to stay out of the naysaying threads so they don’t harsh my buzz before I can see it. I don’t NEED a twist, I don’t WANT a twist, and I have no bloody idea how M. Night got this reputation as a Twist Director after a single (very good) movie. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/m-night-fans-cross-your-fingers-the-happening/419963.md?page=2)