The Eye (2008)

Violinist Sydney Wells was accidentally blinded by her sister Helen when she was five years old. She submits to a cornea transplantation, and while recovering from the operation, she realizes that she is seeing dead people.

Directors:

David Moreau, Xavier Palud

Writers:

Sebastian Gutierrez (screenplay), Yuet-Jan Hui

Stars:

Jessica Alba, Alessandro Nivola, Parker Posey

2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jessica Alba	...	Sydney Wells
Alessandro Nivola	...	Dr. Paul Faulkner
Parker Posey	...	Helen Wells
Rade Serbedzija	...	Simon McCullough
Fernanda Romero	...	Ana Christina Martinez
Rachel Ticotin	...	Rosa Martinez
Obba Babatundé	...	Dr. Haskins
Danny Mora	...	Miguel
Chloë Grace Moretz	...	Alicia
Brett A. Haworth	...	Shadowman
Kevin Phan	...	Tomi Cheung (as Kevin K.)
Tamlyn Tomita	...	Mrs. Cheung
Esodie Geiger	...	Nurse
Karen Elizabeth Austin	...	Mrs. Hillman (as Karen Austin)
Ryan J. Pezdirc	...	Nurse Room Attendant

Storyline

The violinist Sydney Wells has been blind since she was five years old due to an accident. She submits to a surgery of cornea transplantation to recover her vision, and while recovering from the operation, she realizes that she's having strange visions. With the support of Dr. Paul Faulkner, Sidney finds who the donor of her eyes and begins a journey to find out the truth behind her visions.

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Plot Keywords:

corneal transplant | eye | violinist | eye transplant | seeing dead people | 

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Taglines:

Don't Believe Your Eyes.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence/terror and disturbing content

Did You Know?

Trivia

At one point, Renée Zellweger was cast as the lead but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with Case 39 (2009).

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Goofs

In the beginning, during rehearsal, you hear music but the musicians pretended they were playing their instruments. Sydney seems to be the only one "playing an instrument".

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Quotes

[first lines]
Teen on Skateboard: Oh, shit. Thanks. I didn't see that.
Sydney Wells: Neither did I.
Sydney Wells: [voice-over while Sydney walks in the street and settles in a café] People say seeing is believing, but for me, that's not entirely true. I lost my sight when I was five years old. Those memories of what I have seen have faded so much that I doubt I'd even recognize myself anymore. Now I see using my other senses. I can smell the rain before it drops, but I can't watch it fall. I can feel the sun on my face, but I can't see it rise ...

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Connections

Featured in Late Show with David Letterman: Jessica Alba/Julie Chen/The Whigs (2008)

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Soundtracks

Denver Boot
(from "The Dresden Files")
Written by Robert J. Kral
Courtesy of Lionsgate

User Reviews

A Monkey Theorum Movie

The infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter for an infinite amount of time will eventually produce the works of Shakespeare. Coincidently, this same theory applies to the onslaught of Asian horror remakes that is stomping Hollywood into submission. If enough of these films are remade, then eventually one will be acceptable, and alas it has happened.

The Eye, starring Jessica Alba is directed by two relative first timers by the names of David Moreau and Xavier Palud, and they can certainly create a film that boasts certain elements of stylish direction. Unfortunately, along with the good, it seems that all of this style of remake fear deviation from a backbone template. Not to give anything away to those who are not familiar with Asian horror remakes, but one element that is consistent is that the basis of all the evil happenings is from a spirit looking for salvation of some sort. While The Eye, does choose to spin this cliché slightly, it is afraid to go all the way.

Suffering from total blindness after a childhood accident, young beauty Sydney Wells (Alba) is given a chance at an eye transplant that will allow her to see for the first time in decades. Not surprisingly, she begins to see things that ought not to be. Aided by an appointed shrink, played by Alessandro Nivola, they confront the visions and try to track the donor eyes back to their sinister source. This journey is bounds more intelligent then the average horror story, and the standard for dumb decisions is cleverly hidden by the fact that Sydney is fully or partially blind for most of the film. This presents a cushion of forgives per se, as her lack of sight can lead her into frightening situations, without appearing ignorant.

And there are certainly some frightening "boo" moments; uniquely accentuated by a well used pallet of sound. There are also exactly three expertly executed scenes, worthy of recognition. The first is a scene in which a blurry eyed Sydney looks into the mirror for the first time with creepy consequences; the second features a member of the un-dead accompanying her in an elevator and the third takes the form of an intervention between a mother who has recently lost her son. If The Eye had presented more scenes of this Claiborne, it certainly could have been something special. Instead, the ending descends into the mediocrity, which at first seemed more then acceptable, but took off into a sixth sense meets final destination action spin off; which although still thrilling, did not fit the tone and atmosphere of the former acts. The "blurry vision" that is used early on with some skill, is overused by the end, the flashbacks replace the more effective quick cutbacks and it simply does not hold onto its success.

This is however Alba's best performance, and although not saying much, this shows there is hope for her future acting career. While more films like The Eye would be welcome, I think it better to forfeit the Asian remakes all together, then to wait for the monkey's second draft.

Read all my reviews at: http://www.simonsaysmovies.blogspot.com

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

1 February 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Eye

Filming Locations:

800 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,425,776, 3 February 2008

Gross USA:

$31,418,697

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$58,010,320

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lionsgate, Paramount Vantage, Cruise/Wagner Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min 92 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1