Susan Granger’s review of “Red Eye” (DreamWorks)
If you’re looking for late summertime suspense, choose this menacing Wes Craven thriller.
Lisa (Rachel McAdams) is the hard-working, super-efficient reservations manager at a luxury hotel in Miami. Returning from her grandmother’s funeral, she’s stuck at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. Flight delays have made travelers irritable but she’s amiable by nature and open to a mild flirtation with a fellow passenger (Cillian Murphy), agreeing to have a drink with him at the bar.
When their flight is called, Lisa’s even pleased to find him occupying the seat next to hers – until he calmly, quietly informs her that he knows all about her. Not only that, he’s arranged to have her divorced father (Brian Cox) taken hostage unless she calls her hotel, using the plane phone, and changes the room assignment of an arriving VIP guest – the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security – to a specified suite, where he’s going to be targeted for assassination.
Working from a sophisticated, often surprising script by Carl Ellsworth, veteran horror director Wes Craven (the “Scream” franchise) delivers several suspense-packed twists on the traditional damsel-in-distress scenario. There are a few plot loopholes but not enough to prove a distraction until you’re muttering to yourself on your way home. Rachel McAdams (“Wedding Crashers”) embodies the competent, contemporary heroine, determined to utilize all the resources she can summon to elude her captor and save innocent lives. His pale blue eyes steely with ruthless malevolence, Irish actor Cillian Murphy (“Batman Begins”) is a creepy villain, and newcomer Jayma Mayes provides comic relief as Lisa’s insecure assistant. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Red Eye” is a taut, tense 8. Buckle up for a turbulent flight.
