Red Eye (2005) starring Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, Brian Cox, Laura Johnson, Max Kasch, Jayma Mays, Angela Paton, Suzie Plakson, Jack Scalia directed by Wes Craven Movie Review

Red Eye (2005)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Rachel McAdams in Red Eye (2005)

Eye in the Sky

Hotel desk manager Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams) is not a fan of flying but finds herself taking the Red Eye to Miami having been home for a funeral. It is at the airport she finds her meeting blue eyed Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy) who comes to her defence when she has an issue with a jerk. They find themselves sitting next to each other on the plane and after striking up a conversation Jackson tells her that her father is being held hostage and he needs her to contact the hotel where she works and where the deputy secretary of homeland security is due to be staying and make sure he is put in a certain suite so that his colleagues can assassinate him.

I am kind of conflicted as to how I feel about "Red Eye" as it is certainly entertaining but is it a great movie or at least as great as some of the reviews I read when it was released. I am not sure and I am not sure whether that is down to some of the things I read about the movie such as Rachel McAdams plays a very real person which I found myself disagreeing with but still enjoying her character who to me feels like she could have come right out of a "Scream" movie with her perfect hair and so on.

Cillian Murphy in Red Eye (2005)

On the subject of "Scream" it feels to me like Craven has drawn on various movies in his directing of "Red Eye" and the set up has that classic disaster movie feel as we are introduced to a variety of characters all who are getting on the plane. We also have that touch of "Scream" and to give you a spoiler of sorts the movie eventually leads in classic style of victim and stalker playing cat and mouse. Basically "Red Eye" has a lot which is familiar about it but it also has some unique touches.

What it also has is enough going on which distracts you from certain things whilst also having plenty of atmosphere. From a confrontation in the hotel with a jerk to a woman spilling a drink over Lisa they all combine too distract you from certain things.

But what we also have is entertaining performances with Rachel McAdams brings her likeable quality to the role of Lisa whilst Murphy brings danger as Jackson, mixing charm with cold, calculated psycho. In fact it is very much Murphy who makes the movie because of his split personality.

What this all boils down to is that "Red Eye" is entertaining and an enjoyable action thriller but after reading a lot of praise for the movie it was only a good movie rather than a great one.


LATEST REVIEWS