“Red Eye” stars Rachel McAdams (“Wedding Crashers,” “Mean Girls”) and Cillian Murphy (“Batman Begins,” “28 Days Later”). Though the young stars of the film are acclaimed, moviegoers would be well advised to book another ticket. This thriller fails to ever truly take off.
In the film, young hotel manager Lisa Reisert (McAdams) has a chance encounter with a fellow air traveler (Murphy).
As it turns out, this fellow traveler is actually a high-profile political assassin who has his sights set on a politician staying at Lisa’s hotel. This man informs her that his partner will kill her father unless she makes a phone call to move the politician to a less secure hotel room.
Lisa must now find some way to save both her father and the politician on the ground while she is above the clouds on a late-night flight. She gets help from a cast of colorful characters on board the plane. This sets the stage for what becomes one of the most mind-numbingly dull suspense films in recent memory.
Craven’s direction of this film has no real style or flare. The audience is introduced to every single character and plot element of the film in the first few minutes. An astute viewer could predict the ending after about fifteen minutes into the movie. The film does become interesting once McAdams’ character boards the plane. The shooting of the interior scenes on-board adds a claustrophobic feel to the film.
However, the film does not spend enough time on the plane. After a few in-flight cat and mouse games, the film abandons psychological suspense in favor of a car chase. “Red Eye” becomes a completely different movie in the third act and loses whatever it had going for it (which wasn’t that much in the first place).
This movie reflects a growing trend in the horror/thriller/suspense genres. In an effort to appeal to as large an audience as possible, movies are filmed to fit as low a rating as possible (PG-13 in this case). There is nothing wrong with G and PG movies of course, but when attempting to deal with darker themes, a director cannot afford to pull all of their punches. At no point does the audience feel any real danger for Lisa or her father because the audience is not shown anything to indicate the danger they are in. The audience is instead treated to “ratings friendly” explosions and car wrecks at the film’s cop-out ending.
Cillian Murphy manages to turn out a legitimately creepy performance in the film. His dialogue with McAdams on the plane is almost entertaining enough to make one forget the price of admission … almost.
It may well be that director Wes Craven’s best days are behind him. The man that brought us “The People Under the Stairs,” “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Last House on the Left” now seems to be interested in a younger audience, bringing us movies such as “Cursed” and the “Scream” trilogy. It may not be so bad though. Perhaps Craven can be to movies what R.L. Stine is to books.
* of ****