RED
EYE
Review by
Mark Walters
Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams) is a highly respected hotel concierge headed
home from Dallas to Miami to see her dad. Back in Miami, her father (Brian
Cox) is preparing to spend a quiet evening at home watching a stand-up comedy
marathon. Lisa's hotel is in the unskilled hands of a new girl named Cynthia (Jayma
Mays), who is nervously trying to prepare for the arrival of the Deputy
Secretary of Homeland Security (Jack Scalia). Her frantic calls for advice
make Lisa feel that much more desperate to get back. But the airline throws a
wrench into things when her flight gets severely delayed. Now the passengers,
all rather on edge, have to take a red eye flight which won't get them into
Miami until the next morning. During her wait Lisa meets a gentleman by the
name of Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy), who appears to be as sincere as he
is charming. They have a drink at the bar while they wait, and soon learn they
are sitting next to one another on the flight home. At first Jackson seems
like a nice travel companion, but he eventually reveals that their connection
on the plane was anything but coincidence. Lisa discovers she's actually part
of a plot to kill the Deputy Secretary when he arrives at her hotel. To up the
ante, Jackson is using her father as collateral to force her into complying.
Now Lisa must decide if she can go through with this horrible act in order to
keep her father alive.
When I originally saw the trailer for this film, knowing that Wes Craven
directed it, I guess I was expecting a horror film set on a plane. The teaser
played out in a very cryptic manner, showing a girl on a plane, with a
passenger sitting next to her who was scary for an unknown reason. Ends up
this is anything but a horror film. Instead it's a tense thriller done in the
vein of films like NICK OF TIME or CELLULAR. Craven is proving
he can do more than just horror movies, and it pretty refreshing here. Rachel
McAdams plays a very likable heroine. She's attractive and confident when she
needs to be, and convincingly frightened when faced with intense
circumstances. Cillian Murphy is making quite an impression on American
audiences, first with BATMAN BEGINS, and now with this. He knows how to
play the creepy guy really well. It's particularly impressive since he spends
the first half of the film as an endearing and suave fellow, then makes an
effective turn as the real story is revealed. The supporting roles are just
that, as this movie is all about the two main characters.
Jayma
Mays is pretty funny as the naive hotel assistant, and it's a safe bet we'll
be seeing more of her after this. Brian Cox is sadly underused here, making me
wonder why they didn't cast a less-prestigious actor. I will say his presence
here adds a level of implied quality that might not have been around
otherwise. The story isn't anything dramatically new, but it's done well. Wes
Craven does a fine job of building suspense, and directs this with a taut
style, easily derived from his previous scary films. Though there are a few
"run from the bad guy" moments in the film, it spends most of it's time on the
plane, where there's nowhere to run, and that's probably why it works so well.
While many details are explained, there are some that aren't, like who is
really calling the shots behind the assassination plot. I actually liked the
fact that it wasn't all thrown in our face. It puts us in Lisa's shoes, and
besides, the biggest concern is whether or not the plot can be stopped. Marco
Beltrami's intense score also complements the movie very well. I'm a big fan
of these types of films. (Movies like BLACK SUNDAY come to mind) I like the
movie overall, though as I said it's been done before. While it's not
revolutionary, it is fairly entertaining. After seeing RED EYE, I'm curious to
see what other types of films Craven could do. I mean he's done the horror
thing time and time again. It's time to branch out. Maybe other directors will
follow suit. Can you imagine George Romero doing a courtroom drama? Well,
maybe that's pushing it.
BIGFANBOY.com score - On a scale of
1 to 10, 10 being the best, I give RED EYE an 8.
Visit the official Universal Pictures RED EYE movie
website by clicking
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