ZOOEY STARDUST: Talking Mutter With Letterman

CARRIE RICKEY: As for The Happening, [M. Knight Shayamalan‘s] throwback horror flick that plays like The Birds meets The Blob, it’s beyond good and evil. It’s dumbfounding. At the hollow center of this unapologetic B-movie is Mark Wahlberg, typically the low-key everyman, in overwrought-robot mode. He portrays Elliot Moore, a Philadelphia science teacher (at Masterman High, for you homeboys and girls), called out of class one sunny morning and warned of a random plague — an airborne chemical toxin? — sweeping Manhattan, triggering suicides. From Massachusetts to Maryland, Central Park to Rittenhouse Square, urban greens are particularly perilous. As a scientist, Elliot knows the importance of careful observation and drawing conclusions from evidence that he overexplains, irritatingly, to his estranged wife, Alma (Zooey Deschanel), and colleague Julian (John Leguizamo) on a westward-bound train that makes an unscheduled stop. MORE
[Hat tip to ROWDY YATES]