Red Eye

Longtime horror maven Wes Craven tries his hand at Hitchcockian suspense and turns in a modest B-movie thriller that earns its suspension of disbelief through keen performances and mostly tight storytelling. Red Eye stars the talented Rachel McAdams (Wedding Crashers) as an untethered young manager of a luxury hotel who meets a handsome, friendly fellow (Cillian Murphy, Batman Begins) at an airport and winds up sitting with him on the plane. The pair make slightly awkward, even flirtatious small talk that actually sustains the movie until Murphy's charmingly evasive demeanor suddenly turns dark (as do his penetrating blue eyes) as he explains that their encounter is no coincidence in a twist that is both deliciously scary and patently absurd. If Craven left viewers enough time to apply much logical scrutiny to the plot, Red Eye would collapse like a house of cards—but by successfully enveloping the audience in his heroine's point-of-view, he quickly builds fantastic tension around McAdams' mix of femininity, intelligence, vulnerability, and resourcefulness, as the film builds toward an exhilarating, roller-coaster climax. A strong optional purchase. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include an audio commentary (by director Wes Craven, producer Marianne Maddalena, and editor Patrick Lussier), a 12-minute “making-of” featurette, the 11-minute featurette “Wes Craven: A New Kind of Thriller,” a gag reel (7 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a flawed but exciting thriller.] (R. Blackwelder)