"Red Eye"

Reviewed by Chris Cappola
Starring Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy and Brian Cox. Directed by Wes Craven.(2005, DreamWorks)

'Red Eye' is the sort of film Alfred Hitchcock would be making today - it's a thriller that relies on elevating the fear component and is suspenseful, tightly directed and enormously effective. It doesn't cheapen out by creating twists that stem from nowhere or bring in ideas to make the plot convoluted. It's easy in this genre to create red herrings and deceive the audience but 'Red Eye' has a fairly simple idea that it doesn't waste anytime in straying away from the concept.

The set-up is a good one: a young woman Lisa (Rachel McAdams) is taking the 'red eye', a late and delayed flight from Dallas to Miami. Lisa soon encounters a charming stranger Jackson Ripner (Cillian Murphy) who coincidentally is seated next to her on the flight. At first Lisa is enticed by his charm but as the flight takes off, Lisa discovers that Jackson has ulterior motives and needs Lisa's help to kill a Government official. If she doesn't oblige, her father (Brian Cox) will be killed. It is an ingenious idea that Craven starts his movie out like it's a possible romance story with the two characters meeting and finding a connection with one another. Sure, the audience knows it's a thriller and something is going to happen but after 10 minutes of the two leads becoming acquainted with another, it's easy to forget that it's a thriller and when the film takes its 90-degree turn, it does it so abruptly. What follows is Lisa's attempts to get away from her kidnapper onboard a congested plane.

A lot of critics and audiences don't take the horror-thriller genre too seriously. It's a shame because it is the most improved over the last decade. A drama or comedy hasn't improved or declined and remains the same but the thriller genre has come a long way towards building credibility and craftsmanship. 'Red Eye' is the latest in the genre to be a strong and tight package helmed with immense innovation by its director and strongly acted by its two leads. It all comes down to director Wes Craven who has had a few stumbling blocks in his career but is one of the best in this genre. 'Red Eye' is a little different to his usual film because he is more of a horror-director but he knows the use of suspense better than anyone else and knows exactly how to build the tension and elevate the fear in the audience. 'Scream' and 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' are benchmarks in the horror genre and 'Red Eye' is just as inventive as those films though won't be as fondly memorable because the genre is becoming this slick and competently directed that its expected in today's market. Craven has a good team surrounding him with excellent cinematography, great editing and a polished music score by Marco Beltrami. The use of the aeroplane is also an ingenious idea and has a claustrophic feel to it that is ideal for a thriller of this type. Even when the characters get off the plane and into the streets, the film doesn't become less intense and never runs out of breathe. Wes Craven hasn't made a film this good since 'Scream' and has not shown that he has lost his gift for fear, though his recent 'Cursed' was a severe misstep.

Rachel McAdams is justifying her labelling as Hollywood's next big actress. She is up there with Reese Witherspoon and is a very strong and credible actress. Not many actresses of her age could have gotten away with this role because it's a tricky one and most actors will overreact and exaggerate the performance. Not McAdams who is calm, strong, sincere and most of all believable and evokes that with her performance. It's a surprise that she has only done 4 leading roles but all of them show the calibre of an actress that has been doing this for years and years. Mark these words: McAdams will be an Oscar nominee someday. 'Red Eye' only works because she makes it work. An actress like Brittany Murphy, Jessica Alba or Katie Holmes just to name a few at random would ruin the film though they are good actresses in their right. Rachel McAdams is not a good actress, she's better than good. Cillian Murphy ('28 Days Later', 'Batman Begins') was a surprise choice for the sinister role of the cold and calculated Jackson Ripner (got to love that name!) and does a convincing job and too finds an angle to play the role without overplaying it or turning it into a caricature, which would have degraded the film. Together, McAdams and Murphy work well together and have genuine rapport that when they turn against each other, it's an ironic twist. Veteran supporting actor Brian Cox has a thankless role but does some good work though his one "big" scene at the climax is a little redundant for a film that was playing so innovatively.

Many people wonder about the style of filmmaking Alfred Hitchcock would be making if he was around today. Filmmaking has come such a long way since he was the master of the macabre and 'Red Eye' would be one of the films that he may have made. Wes Craven may never be as iconic as Hitchcock but he will be remembered as one of the genre's most influential directors and that's a deserved assessment. 'Red Eye' is using a simple premise but in an ingenious way - its hook is the use of an aeroplane to elevate the fear, tension and suspense of the story and it does so flawlessly. It's swift, doesn't drag on into unnecessary subplots and strongly directed. 10 years ago, this may have been revolutionary but today, it's just another classy thriller, but a very good one.
out of 10
- Chris Cappola's Reviews

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