Taut, suspenseful and smart, Wes Craven’s Red Eyeis the thrill ride
of the summer, an old-fashioned nail-biter that signals a new direction for
the veteran filmmaker as he ventures into Hitchcock territory to pull off
his most accomplished and satisfying movie. Craven and screenwriter Carl
Ellsworth tap into many our most basic fears — enclosed spaces,
strangers, flying, and home invasion — and the result is a wholly
satisfying, cathartic entertainment.
If anything, Red Eye confirms that Rachel McAdams is a bona fide movie star and
one of the most talented of the many young actresses to emerge on the scene
in the last five years. Coming off the success of Mean Girls, The Notebook, and Wedding Crashers, McAdams gives
a strong performance as Lisa, an assertive, capable, young woman who never
met a problem she couldn’t solve. The manager of a posh resort in
Florida, she’s returning from Dallas on the red-eye to Miami. When
her flight’s delayed, she shares a drink with fellow passenger
Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy). They part ways at the airport only to
find they’re seated next to each other on the flight.
Lisa dismisses this as a coincidence, but once they
are buckled in and the plane takes off, she learns she’s a pawn in an
elaborate terrorist plot. Her father (Brian Cox) will be killed, Rippner
says, unless she calls the resort where she works and switches the room
where the deputy Secretary of Homeland Defense and his family plan to stay.
This rather simple premise mushrooms into a classic game of cat-and-mouse
in which Craven utilizes every element in his bag of tricks to increase the
suspense.
Although it could have used a more sympathetic target
(an arrogant member of the Bush administration?), the film is smart when it
counts. There isn’t a hole to be found in the film’s conspiracy
plot and all of the intricate elements at play during its exhilarating
climax, the point at which most thrillers fall apart, hold water. Red Eye is one of the most
satisfying films of the summer.
Also in theaters this week. . .
The 40-Year-Old Virgin [R]
Nerdy electronic store employee Andy Stitzer is a virgin, a 40-year-old virgin. When his
friends find out, they try to rectify matters, but their quest hits a road
bump when Stitzer falls in love. ShowPlace
East, ShowPlace West
Supercross [PG-13] After
the death of their father, two motocross biking brothers are determined to
win the Las Vegas Motocross Championships. Parkway Pointe
Valiant [G] A small-fry
pigeon named Valiant works hard and become a force to be reckoned with in
Great Britain’s Royal Air Force Homing Pigeons Service during World
War II. Parkway Pointe
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill [G] A documentary about a flock of parrots befriended by a
street musician in San Francisco. More on page 17. Parkway Pointe
This article appears in Aug 18-24, 2005.
