What is happening to M. Night Shyamalan? After a string of blockbusters and seemingly overnight success starting with "The Sixth Sense," the writer-director has fallen on some hard times. This is partially due to 2004's "The Village" and 2006's "Lady in the Water," which were disappointing films for both the box office and critics alike. And it's also because Shyamalan has earned a reputation as being a stubborn filmmaker full of hubris. So what has happened to Shyamalan?

In truth, I'm not sure that anything has happened. I don't believe Shyamalan is fool's gold - he's an extremely talented filmmaker and his good films are no accidents. And I don't believe that he's suddenly lost it, either; at this age and being a decade into his Hollywood career, Shyamalan is still in his proverbial prime as an artist. It's entirely possible that Shyamalan is just in a slump, having made a few movies that didn't live up to his previous works. Even great directors go through these slumps; remember that doubt swirled around Steven Spielberg after movies like "1941" and "Always."

So perhaps this just part of an inevitable cycle and it needs no further explanation. And to be sure, "The Happening" is better than Shyamalan's previous two films as it doesn't suffer from the delusional arrogance of "Lady in the Water" or the overblown melodrama and transparent twists of "The Village." But it also falls woefully short of his best movies, "The Sixth Sense" and "Signs," lacking the explosive reveals or brilliant climaxes that we've come to expect. Ironically, this film also shows the best and worst of the young director in the span of about 90 minutes.

What "The Happening" does have is a great idea, and it starts with a simple tale that goes something like this: a high school science teacher named Elliot (Mark Wahlberg) tells his class about a strange phenomenon that's affecting bees. They're vanishing, and no one seems to know why. There are no dead bees lying around; they're just gone. This is a real phenomenon, not a plot device, which is known as Colony Collapse Disorder. And it's happening all over the world, including North America. And no one knows why.

Elliot asks his class to hypothesize causes for the bees' disappearance. Pollution? Disease? A terrorist attack? Or maybe it's just a natural phenomenon that human's can't possibly understand. But we do know it's a serious problem; as class ends, an ominous quote on the chalkboard attributed to Albert Einstein reads that mankind will perish within four years if bees were to suddenly become extinct.

At the same time this is going on, another phenomenon is taking place in New York's Central Park: people are suddenly stopping in the middle of their daily routines and in a dazed, confused state they proceed to commit suicide in grizzly fashions. Some methods are practical - a policeman calmly removes his pistol and shoots himself in the head - while others are much more inventive and gruesome (I dare not spoil these parts because they're some of the highlights of the film).

The phenomenon soon spreads throughout New York and soon the entire Northeast is engulfed in this horrific ordeal. People say it's a terrorist attack, so naturally people begin to leave populated cities. Elliot and his estranged wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) and best friend/fellow teacher Julian (John Leguizamo) take Julian's daughter and flee Philadelphia and head for the rural Pennsylvania. They're still not sure what they're running from. An airborne virus? A chemical weapon? And act of God? But they're running for their lives.

Zooey Deschanel and Mark Wahlberg don't seem to fit quite right as the lead couple in "The Happening."

This is where Shyamalan is at his best. "The Happening" begins with a shocking introduction and cranks up the suspense with ease behind a fantastic premise that's gleaming with tantalizing possibilities. The characters can't see what's coming, and neither can the audience. But we're both convinced that something terrible is coming, and when it arrives, the film doesn't rely on special effects or CGI-filled monsters. Shyamalan simply works the camera like the gifted filmmaker he is. Imagine watching Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" but instead of seagulls and crows, there's nothing but the wind, air and clouds. That may be the best way to describe "The Happening," and it's a testament to Shyamalan's enormous skill.

Well, that's the highly promising first half of "The Happening." Unfortunately, the movie slowly but painfully descends into some rehashed conventions of Shyamalan's earlier films. He recycles the rocky husband-wife relationship from "Unbreakable," for example, and puts a family in a dark, eerie house beset by unseen forces just like "Signs." It would be nice, too, if the director moved outside of his comfort zones like rural Pennsylvania and Philadelphia. The problems with "The Happening" have nothing to do with Shyamalan's directing, style, or vision; it's more about his own script leading him astray. "The Happening" just doesn't have the cohesive narrative, compelling characters and touching humor exhibited in his earlier films.

There's also the issue of the acting. As a leading man, Wahlberg has been very good in some films ("Boogie Nights," "Three Kings") but far too often he comes off a little bland and awkward. And he's the wrong choice to play a caring teacher and husband who's supposed to be expressing wide-eyed bewilderment to the strange phenomena in the film. Deschanel, meanwhile, is an excellent actress with charisma to boot, but she's not able to muster much chemistry with Wahlberg. As result, their romance subplot feels entirely forced and unnecessary.

The movie's best performance belongs to Leguizamo, who brings an earnestness and gravity to the protective father role that the movie desperately needs. He is the driving force behind perhaps the best scene in "The Happening," and he matches the taut suspense of Shyamalan's camera work perfectly. When Leguizamo isn't not on screen, the movie begins to suffer.

Moviegoers may be wondering if there's some kind of strange twist in "The Happening," but I leave that one for people to figure out for themselves. What I will say is that this film is quiet, subtle and far more understated than Shyamalan's films, and it's both a blessing and a curse. The movie doesn't suffer from false bravado and overblown melodrama, but it also feels like it peaks too early and then plods along in its final act. The excitement and heightened anxiety of the film's first half simply disappears, much like the bees reference in the introduction.

"The Happening" isn't nearly as terrible as "Lady in the Water," which is a good sign for Shyamalan. As a director, he certainly knows how to frame a scene for maximum suspense. I gripped my arm rest more than once during the movie, and that's the kind of movie I expect from him. But Shyamalan should still to the camera and give the script duties to someone else next time. "The Happening" is a great idea that ultimately never comes together.

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