Red Eye
Also reviewed by:
Uncle Cliff
I liked the previews for Red Eye, it looked like a cool idea, an unaware girl suddenly caught up in some grand scheme which she is now a part of because some guy on a plane has told her his job is, effectively, her. There is no escape, no way to prove him wrong, no where to turn. It’s a cool plot device, having the characters caught in the air. And for the most part the film lives up to that promise. For the most part.
First off Rachel McAdams is pretty. Damn pretty. In fact, every time I refer to her from now on in I will make some vaguely dirty remark cleverly using the titles of other films she has been in. So McAdams (I’d like her to be my Mean Girl) is the mark in this film, with Cillian Murphy excellent in the bad guy role. He has such a creepy look about him even when he isn’t trying. The interactions between these two are excellent, despite a couple of dodgy lines here and there. McAdams (I’d like to Crash her Wedding. And marry her instead) is really good at crying. In fact, her damsel in distress routine is awesome, and she does more than merely look pretty. But really it is Murphy who carried this film. If you can’t believe in his cold-hearted character it will fall flat. And he pulls it off well.
I thought this would have made a good stage show actually, just to have those two on a plane talking about what could be happening elsewhere. But it is the elsewhere that makes the film become nothing more than regular Hollywood fare. Pretty much every scene not on the plane is dead, common, almost telemovie style. It is really crap and it ruins the momentum of the plane sequences. On another note have former "Survivor" winner Colby Donaldson acting as a security guard, and he is not terrible in his very limited role. So once the plane lands the film is really dead in the water, everything after the initial tension of their interactions is flat and predictable. The last half hour is pure Hollywood scary movie fare. Very commonplace.
It was sad to see the idea wasted, but it was never meant to be a risk-taking film. It was never going to be a movie that would push any boundaries or try to make some deep statement. It is just a movie. It’s what you would expect from the guy who made the Scream films. But I kept thinking of what it could have been, how this could have been a great film. Unfortunately it is not. And the use of the bassy, drumroll-type scary movie score really underlines that this is just another movie which you’ll watch, kinda like, then never think about again.