2.22.2008

BRR Goes To the Movies - The Happening

Okay, so this film has nothing to do with Beatniks. Bummer. I'll be honest, there was a time when M. Night Shammalamma-ding-dong's name would have been enough to seal the deal for me. I'd list Unbreakable in my Top 20-25 favorite films easily. Heck, I even liked the much-maligned (and yeah, not perfect) Signs. I stuck by Night. Then the lackluster The Village and the just plain terrible Lady In the Water (seriously, what was that? Ugh.) happened and now... I'm not so sure.

But let's look at the cast. First off, I don't mind Marky Mark. I thought his insane 9-11 firefighter character was one of the better parts of I Heart Huckabee's (I liked that movie) and he was in Three Kings which totally, completely ruled. So, yeah, he's not a deal-breaker.

Also starring John Leguizamo, who I really can take or leave. I actually prefer his dramatic roles to his comedic ones because he is sort of annoying. Be honest, you think so too. There. Doesn't that feel better?

And then there's Zooey Deschanel, who I will admit to having a slight crush on. There, I said it. She's cute, huh? I honestly haven't seen a bad performance from her despite the fact that she's been in some pretty atrocious films (um, The New Guy and Failure To Launch, anybody?). She was great in Almost Famous which is either in the Top 10 or just outside of it and she was pretty solid in Elf despite her playing the sarcastic hipster girl that she has perfected. Seriously, it should say on her business card: "Zooey Deschanel: That Sarcastic Hipster Girl From That One Movie."

Also, she's recorded an album with BRR fave M. Ward (again with the M. names, hmmm) as She & Him (their album, Volume 1 is out soooon, although if you are trained in the way of the ninja you should be able to find a leaked version floating somewhere in the ether of the Internets. But you didn't hear that from me.), so there's that. The girl can sing, for reals, though.

As much as a character-driven survival horror film appeals to me, and as much as I want M. Night to redeem himself, I'm giving this a Queue but reserve the right to promote it to Rental if the advance reviews are favorable.

What do you think?

2 comments:

Caitlin said...

I'm a sucker for Marky. He's just so good looking. I'll put it in my queue but I won't make a special trip to rent it. In case you were wondering, my decision is solely based on the fact that he is good looking...

rose said...

no doubt. i definitely want to see it.