Red Eye

Not a bad movie, but once it got to the halfway point it seemed like too much was crammed into a short period of time. Felt too short. The story does have some memorable parts. Nice little PG-13 thriller. Odd viewing it for the first time after 20 years of it being released. I was mildly surprised to have never heard of it with big names (in the present) like Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy. Parts of it are kinda hollow. One sad attempt at a side story personalization is with a little girl on the flight. It was a typical early 2000s context focus on an irrelevant character. Honestly thinking now this seems almost like a way to get younger audience members involved in the story. There's a small degree of cheesiness. But as having been very much alive during the time period it made nostalgic for those days. Captured the feeling of airports and air travel that I've grown up with. If there was more time given to the filmmaker to develop the second half of the story so it doesn't feel so rushed I would enjoy it much more.

Every now and then you stumble upon a movie that you've never heard of, but that manages to catch your attention with a plot that's intriguing. In this case, it's about a woman on a late night flight who gets caught up somehow in a plot to assassinate the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security.

The woman is Lisa (played by Rachel McAdams.) Lisa is the manager of a fancy hotel in Miami where the Deputy Secretary stays when in the city. In the airport, waiting for her flight, Lisa is befriended by Jack (Cillian Murphy.) Jack is a friendly guy, basically seeming to be interested in hitting it off with a pretty woman like Lisa. And yet, it's clear from the start that there's something not quite right with the character; something creepy - even sinister. Murphy did a great job with this character. He, of course, is involved with the plot. His job is to coerce Lisa into using her clout as manager to change the Deputy Secretary's room to on where he'll be more vulnerable.

The whole thing leads up to a pretty exciting last 20-30 minutes, from the point at which Lisa manages to escape from Jack, and it turns into a pretty typical pursuit sort of movie as Jack chases Lisa (and sometimes Lisa chases Jack.) That's standard in a lot of ways, but still pretty well down, and it has you on the edge of your seat from time to time, waiting to see how it will turn out.

Director Wes Craven did a decent job of building the suspense in this. It starts out a bit slowly, but builds magnificently to that very exciting end, and in a lot of ways this has an underlying and very appropriate tongue in cheek feel to it, and it ends on a humorous note, going back to an obnoxious couple staying at the hotel, who are none too pleased that they've been inconvenienced by the assassination attempt. Overall, this is very well done. (7/10)

Unsurprisingly, one of Craven's lesser known features. Mostly due to its non-horror nature, with a severe lack of masked murderers and nightmarish masters. But that doesn't necessarily mean this thrilling flight should be dismissed, as its simplistic disposable nature provides some quality mid-air entertainment. A hotel manager, travelling on the red-eye flight to Miami, is tangled up in an assassination plot regarding one of her clients.

The plot is relatively straightforward, and severely undercooked to the point that its only purpose is to serve these two beautiful passengers a topic to discuss during their flight. The assassination attempt on Charles Keefe certainly holds no tension or substance. What this strand does provide though, is a more personal circumstance that gradually ramps up the thrills.

The gorgeously intelligent McAdams against the irrefutably handsome Murphy. A game of wits and beauty. Sleight of hand distractions to waste time and constructive messages sent to signal for help. Alas, her non-compliance may result in her father being assassinated also, which just made the situation extremely personal. This ultimatum, although tepid in ferocity due to the short runtime that meant Craven had to constantly prevent the story from stalling, certainly showcased some brilliant claustrophobic performances from the two leads. With McAdams breaking the "damsel in distress" archetype and Murphy harnessing his antagonistic intensity.

The flight itself was occasionally bumpy due to a turbulent script and the 90s aesthetic, but when that plane lands. Ooof! Go go go! We're firing all cylinders. This just went from 'Flight Simulator 98' to 'Top Gun' on amphetamines. McAdams is fleeing to save her father, Murphy is doing his best Gollum impression and Craven just keeps moving forward. No time for a Starbuck's at the airport. Drive down that freeway like a maniac and save the hotel! Oh, and the father. Sweet lord do I miss these brisk thrillers! Even Beltrami's notable score wafts the aroma of restlessness around the cabin.

Red Eye is apparently described to be psychological in nature. It's not. In the slightest. What it is though is a straight-forward disposable thriller that is here for a good time, not a long time. Plausible characters, claustrophobic environment and an intense third act results in a criminally overlooked film from Craven's catalogue.

The film talks about two people(Rachel McAdams,Cillian Murphy) who meet one night very late in the airport,catching a Red-eye.The story is the worst plane ride you could ever take.The place on the airplane where everything is compressed but that really contributes to the sense of claustrophobic,creeping terror, it's this struggle ,all contained within the coach section of the plane. This is the story of the worst person you could sit next to on a plane.The excitement is generated out of this compelling conversation between two individuals that start off innocent enough but then suddenly devolves.The psychological mind-play between these two characters and what it is to have to sit in one spot and be terrorized and basically held hostage,she and his father(Brian Cox) without letting anyone else know what's going on.Wes Craven said that he was attracted to this project ,first of all for the remarkably constructed script written by Carl Ellsworth.Thus the characters are complex,when you think you know what's gonna happen something else happens and the fascinating idea is that you never know who who you're going to sit next to on an airplane.The screenwriter does a character piece,and ,in a way ,maybe he creates a hybrid of the independent character film and Hollywood action blockbuster,thus we can have a character-driver piece,but also have suspense,thriller,action elements in it as well.

The movie was filmed principally in Los Angeles.All of the airplane shot were on a set,but there was no way in hell one could shot this on a real airplane.Craven had an airplane that could take apart,it could pull sections off of the side and it could pull out panels and have a camera swoop down aisles and go up over people.Production design by Bruce Miller worked for Craven on many films,he creates splendidly the scenes that he needs to tell the story,the look of movie is just wanted to keep it as real as possible.He decided to go with the two-three seating pattern which is a 767 airplane and took pieces from many airplanes and put them together in this format with overhead baggage compartments,lighting,the seats and various pieces.We have a feeling you're in this capsule at 30.000 feet in the air .There's one shot where we see a tiny plane going through these huge clouds banks and you have the feeling they're in this tiny ship in the middle of nowhere.It's the old horror film thing of all these things happen in the middle of nowhere. The motion picture displays a colorful cinematography by Robert Yeoman and atmospheric musical by Marco Beltrani.The film is magnificently directed by the master of terror Wes Craven .

"Red Eye" is all about Lisa (McAdams) who is simply trying to get home during a bad weather snarl at the airport and finds herself stuck on a red-eye and flying headlong into a suspense drama. A busy, fun little no brainer, "Red Eye" begins like a romcom, morphs into a suspense/action flick, and takes you on a simple-minded but entertaining girl power ride as Lisa races with the clock to save the day. Probably worth the price of a DVD rental, "Red Eye" will play best with fans of rising star McAdams and those who no brain it to avoid it's many nagging plot holes. Keep expectations real for maximum enjoyment. (B-)