Red Eye (2005)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Wes Craven

Writers (WGA):

Carl Ellsworth (screenplay)
Carl Ellsworth (story) ...

Release Date:

19 August 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

Fear Takes Flight

Plot:

A woman is kidnapped by a stranger on a routine flight. Threatened by the potential murder of her father, she is pulled into a plot to assist her captor in offing a politician.

Plot Keywords:

Flight | Hotel | Plane | Hotel Manager | Death

Awards:

1 win & 8 nominations

Cast

Rachel McAdams	...	Lisa Reisert
Cillian Murphy	...	Jackson Rippner
Brian Cox	...	Joe Reisert
Jayma Mays	...	Cynthia
Laura Johnson	...	Blonde Woman
Max Kasch	...	Headphone Kid
Angela Paton	...	Nice Lady
Suzie Plakson	...	Senior Flight Attendant
Jack Scalia	...	Charles Keefe
Terry Press	...	Marianne Taylor (as Teresa Press-Marx)
Robert Pine	...	Bob Taylor
Carl Gilliard	...	Taxi Driver
Mary Kathleen Gordon	...	Airline Representative (as Mary-Kathleen Gordon)
Loren Lester	...	Irate Passenger
Philip Pavel	...	Dallas Ticket Agent

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of violence, and language.

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Australia:M | Germany:12 | Finland:K-15 | New Zealand:M | Philippines:PG-13 | Norway:15 | Argentina:13 | Ireland:12A | Indonesia:Dewasa | Brazil:14 | Taiwan:PG-12 | Iceland:14 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Belgium:KT | Czech Republic:15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Malaysia:U | Iceland:16 (video rating) | South Korea:15 | USA:PG-13 | UK:12A | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles International Airport - One World Way, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

In the Audio Commentary, Wes Craven mentions the many cameos that members from the crew can be seen throughout the movie, including writer Carl Ellsworth as a passenger in the terminal, Dreamworks marketing head Terry Press as the irate hotel guest, producer Marianne Maddalena as a passenger in First-class, and production-manager Tina Anderson as Rebecca's mother. Craven also mentions that assistant property master Skip Crank, first assistant director Mark Cotone, and producer Jim Lemley make an appearance as the men on the fishing boat.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In addition to the different planes shown, the final exterior shot as the plane is taking off is actually a 737 landing. The flaps are clearly in the landing configuration and the reverse thrusters are on.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Marianne Taylor: Taylor. Bob and Marianne Taylor.
Cynthia: Just bear with me one second.
Marianne Taylor: There are other hotels in Miami.
Cynthia: I'm really sorry.
Marianne Taylor: What is the problem here? We made these reservations over six months ago.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Jeopardy!: (2005-11-14)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Look Up

A Breath of "Fresh Air"

Greetings again from the darkness. What a relief ... a thriller that actually is thrilling! New "IT" girl Rachel McAdams ("Wedding Crashers" and "The Notebook") dominates screen time in this nice little classic suspense thriller from famed horror film director Wes Craven ("Scream" movies and "A Nightmare on Elm Street"). Craven even has a cameo as one of the passengers on the plane.

What makes this one work, is the realism of the first 15-20 minutes as we see McAdams interact with 4 or 5 people either in person or on the phone. She is a natural. When she meets Cillian Murphy (the Scarecrow in "Batman Begins") in what appears to be happenstance, the film really takes flight. Watching the two yuppie-types flirt while the audience knows something evil is brewing, is bewitching film-making! The plane boarding sequence is mesmerizing and the 30 plus minutes onboard is excruciatingly claustrophobic. Craven keeps us guessing as to the involvement of others and if anyone will come to her rescue.

As with many thrillers, the only letdown occurs during the climax when the lamb turns into a superhero. An interesting plot device leads us to believe little Rachel has the necessary pent up frustration to see this through, but we can't help but cringe a bit. The most overdone scenes involve irate hotel guests, an annoying airline passenger, Cillian's injury and the FX at the hotel. The strength of the film is in the character development and psychological games between the leads. Sadly the fine screen veteran Brian Cox is under-utilized, but overall this is an above-average suspense thriller worth seeing for all but the finale.