A staple of horror films -- at least of the slasher variety -- is having a homicidal maniac dispatching a number of usually young victims before meeting his match in the form of another young, pretty and resourceful woman who's the lone survivor of the mayhem. Director Wes Craven knows a thing or two about such matters having used that formula in films such as "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and the "Scream" films.
He returns to the plot again -- albeit in a modified form -- in "Red Eye." Named after those middle of the night flights despised by business travelers, the picture isn't about bad food, long lines, overbooking of seats, delays or bumpy flights, although some of those elements do make their way into the proceedings. Nor is it the second coming of "Executive Decision," "Passenger 57" or the airport-themed "Die Hard 2" (although likewise, some of those films' plot devices are reused here).
Instead, it's the tale of a hotel manager who finds herself stuck between a rock and a hard place -- actually a maniac and the window -- with nowhere to go since they're both at 40,000 feet. Such confines would seem to limit what Craven and screenwriter Carl Ellsworth (making his feature film debut) could do with the material (although another "stuck in flight" thriller is taxing down the movie runway in the form of "Flightplan" due out in fall 2005). Yet, they use the time onboard the plane as the setup and precursor for the real show that that will next transpire once they're back on terra firma.
That's when the film -- ironically enough -- really takes off, at least in terms of some decent action and suspense sequences during the subsequent cat and mouse moments that ensue. And much of that can be attributed to Rachel McAdams. While she played a "mean girl" in the film of the same name, her other efforts including "Wedding Crashers" and "The Notebook" certainly didn't tip anyone off about her pending abilities as an action heroine.
While things may be a tiny bit slow going for the first half of the film, once the actress is freed of her in-flight confines, she and the film really let loose, on both the villains as well as viewer expectations of what sort of character she is and what's next going to occur. If anything, this is one of those fun, guilty pleasure offerings where the pent-up action side allows one to forgive, overlook or forget the lapses in logic and/or plausibility.
I don't want to go into specifics for most of them, although I doubt a flight from Dallas to Miami (even with the time change) would take so long that it would go from the middle of the night to what looks like middle to later morning (and the film may have been even better if kept in the dark). Suffice it to say, one shouldn't think too much about such problems (and there are some whoppers) and instead should just go along for the ride.
As alluded to before, McAdams is near perfect in the role, nicely balancing inherent friendliness, vulnerability and tough action chick persona into one fun and engaging package. Cillian Murphy ("Batman Begins," "28 Days Later") is good as the villain, even if his modus operandi is questionable and he becomes a bit too cartoonish as the film proceeds and essentially snowballs into a thrilling ride.
Newcomer Jayma Mays is a blast as a hotel assistant manager who's way in over her head (for hotel matters, let alone what eventually transpires), while Brian Cox ("The Bourne Supremacy," "Troy") is decent but appears in a dramatically limited role designed solely as a catalyst and then payoff near the end.
My only real complaint is with those various lapses of logic and plausibility issues that drive writer types like me crazy. A few simple tweaks here and there could have easily fixed most if not all of those nagging issues, thus making the film a "cleaner" experience. Of course, most viewers won't likely notice them while getting caught up in the suspense and action, or at least until after the ending arrives.
Since this is essentially a gussied up horror flick, that destination is never in doubt. Craven and company, however, make it a fun, escapist sort of journey that might suffer from a little cinematic turbulence, but is enough of a guilty pleasure to make it worth catching. "Red Eye" rates as a 6.5 out of 10.
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