RED EYEWes Craven, USA 2005
6.5
oh my crappy god. i hadn't heard a thing about Red Eye until i saw the trailer earlier last year and nearly crapped my pants because a) it had Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy as the leads, and b) although the story looked limited, it looked like a successfully tense little thriller. the lukewarm reviews had to be the result of expecting anything else but smart performances set in a tiny crawl space. the setting was pure genius and if anyone could pull it off, Wes Craven was one of them. well... uh. the first act freaked me out a bit with its cartoon-ish characterizations. but that all melted away as Cillian Murphy entered the scene. and then i got served with one of the most chilling sequence ever. just Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy talking and Craven intercutting the two faces. both lead performances, and their chemistry, are unapologetic and you can see both actors went for the human aspects in their characters instead of playing up to a type. McAdams and Murphy just took over and breathed life into them. it was refreshing to see what are basically stock characters be believable like that. i can't go into detail about the story because i don't wanna spoil anything (needless to say, if you've seen the trailer, a lot of the first act is sorely predictable -but kept cute by the performances!- instead of being charming - thanks spoiler trailers!), do expect some stupid actions along the way, but the big draw here, and it is intact after having watched the film, are Rachel McAdams' and Cillian Murphy's performances. they hold this baby up breathlessly. if you've got a quick hour-and-a-half to spare and wanna see what fine actors do, do check this one out. a fun little popcorn flick.
Posted by Anonymous | 12:53 PM
