Red Eye

Red Eye (2005) – on rental. I’d assume that the term “red eye” refers to the photographic effect you get when you take pictures of human subjects with flash directed at their eyes. The film “Red Eye” has nothing to do with photography. It’s instead set on a flight that occurs during the night, with the term used to denote flights that depart between 2100 to 0500! I learn something new everyday.

The story: Lisa Reisert – played by the very attractive and marvelously good-looking Rachel McAdams – is the front desk manager of a swanky luxury hotel. Her flight home in Miami to see her Dad gets delayed, and during the waiting period, she meets a stranger Jackson Rippner played by Cillian Murphy, and the two have a lovely time chatting over nachos and drinks. They even end up sitting beside each other on the flight.

Before you think this is a romantic movie, it’s anything but. It’s a thriller. When you’ve got a character named Jackson Rippner, you can assume he’s up to no good. The name looks like a nod to Jack the Ripper, that famous assassin of 19th century England. Rippner’s profession falls in the same lot too: he’s a professional killer, and his current job is located at Reisert’s hotel, so the whole thing about meeting her is anything but a coincidence.

—

The film gets at least a few things right: it’s extremely compact at a run length of just 76 minutes, excluding the 8 minutes end credits roll; but the film doesn’t feel rushed, and there’s a lot of plot progression even despite its short length. Director Wes Craven is better known for his many cult horror film franchises, and a lot of what goes into Red Eye bears the trademark of his brood of horror films. The scary music accompaniment and a couple of gory bits, which include very sharp knives and a pen stuck into one guy’s throat. And you can’t go wrong with an actor like Cillian Murphy playing the bad guy. He’s got those creepy eyes LOL.

And McAdams serves both the purpose of delicious eye-candy and display of emotional range: the first half of the film sees her distressed at the discovery that her seat companion is anything but a nice guy; and the second half of the film sees her determined to foil Rippner’s plot.

The one huge failing? Well, the amazingly large plot holes, and all too easy conveniences taken in the story to get things moving, or to make dramatic.

All that said, it’s still an enjoyable and compact thriller. Perfect for over dinner TV accompaniment that’d leave you with plenty of time left in the night to do proper work once you’ve finished the film.:)