>>REVIEW
RED EYE
STARRING Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy and Brian Cox
DIRECTED BY Wes Craven
Opens Friday, August 19
Check listings
Air travel can be a real pain in the ass. They delay your flight, they lose your luggage, they sit you next to some guy who has been stalking you for weeks and threatens to kill your father if you don’t help him arrange the assassination of a high-ranking member of the U.S. government. At least that’s the predicament Lisa (Rachel McAdams) finds herself in. Throw in her fear of flying, some unwanted turbulence (both physical and emotional) and Jackson Rippner, a charming sociopath played by Cillian Murphy, and you have Red Eye, the latest thriller from horror master Wes Craven.
As a director, Craven has been trying to go legit ever since switching from porn to low-budget exploitation slashers in the ’70s. Even with the success of his Nightmare on Elm Street series, his name didn’t really hold widespread cachet until he made the horror blockbuster Scream. That gave him the clout to make the heartfelt drama about music teachers, Music of the Heart, but lately his attempts at scaring audiences (Scream 3 and Cursed) have been star-studded, but limp affairs. In Red Eye, a well-above-average script by Carl Ellsworth and great performances by McAdams and Murphy not only make for an entertaining thriller, but for a perfect blend of Craven’s horror-movie sensibilities and his quest for Hollywood legitimacy.
In truth however, the film succeeds despite Craven’s best efforts. Even with his credentials, he’s a by-the-book director at best and with the exception of a few swooping crane shots, he does little to liven up the in-flight sequences of Red Eye. Admittedly when you have personalities as engaging as McAdams and Murphy, you don’t need to jazz it up with much hocus-pocus, but in the hands of a more adventurous director, Red Eye could have been exceptional. Craven winds up sticking to what he does best – awkward Steadicam shots, a female lead who is just daddy’s little girl and a relentless killer who keeps on coming no matter how many times you hit him with a field hockey stick. Even though Craven basically rips off his own sequences from Scream (albeit toning them down for a fearsome PG-13 rating), the result is tense and fun. Working as a no-frills Hitchcock suits him – my only hope is that he doesn’t try to make Red Eye 2. |
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