RATING:
PG-13 for some intense sequences
of violence, and language.
RELEASED:
Aug. 19, 2005
GENRE:
Drama, Thriller
STARRING:
Rachel McAdams, Cillian
Murphy, Brian Cox, Jack Scalia, Jayma Mays
DIRECTORS:
Chris Bender, Wes Craven,
Marianne Maddalena
SCREENWRITER:
Carl Ellsworth
DISTRIBUTOR:
Dreamworks SKG
Please Note
In providing movie reviews on our site, CBN.com is not endorsing or recommending films we review. Our goal is to provide Christians with information about the latest movies, both the good and the bad, so that our readers may make an informed decision as to whether or not films are appropriate for them and their families.
MOVIE REVIEW
Red Eye
Dr. Tom Snyder
MovieGuide Magazine
CBN.com
Red Eye may be one of the most emotionally satisfying,
entertaining thrillers this year.
One of the reasons the movie is so entertaining is the simplicity
of its plot. Rachel McAdams of The Notebook plays Lisa
Reisert, a hotel reservation manager who's taking a late-night
flight back to Miami, Florida after attending the funeral of her
maternal grandmother. On boarding the plane, Lisa is pleasantly
surprised to find that she is seated next to Jackson (Cillian
Murphy), the seemingly charming man with whom she had struck up
a friendly conversation while waiting in the airport terminal.
Moments
after takeoff, however, Jackson informs Lisa that he has an assassin
waiting to kill her beloved father at home in Miami, unless she
calls her hotel and changes the room number for the arrival of
the tough-minded deputy secretary of Homeland Security. With nowhere
to run and no way to summon help, Lisa desperately looks for ways
to thwart her ruthless captor and stop his evil plan.
Coming in at a brisk 85 minutes, Red Eye successfully
builds acute tension and excitement. Though most of the focus
is on two characters, director Wes Craven effectively spotlights
other characters, including the spunky heroine's nervous young
assistant back at the hotel. Everything leads to a satisfying
ending, where the values of family, courage, compassion, determination,
and the connection between a father and his daughter thwart the
worst parts of the terrorists' plan. Red Eye also continues
the American storytelling tradition of dark forces threatening
the family, especially women and children. Thus, its story has
a classic feel to it that could help it succeed at the box office.
Director Wes Craven usually does violent horror slasher movies
that earn MovieGuide's rebuke. Here, however, as he did
with the MovieGuide Award-winning Music of the Heart,
Craven shows he is able to create an entertaining movie without
resorting to excessively violent shock techniques. If Red
Eye is successful, perhaps Mr. Craven can break out of the
slasher horror genre and use his considerable talents in more
appropriate endeavors.
Red Eye contains some foul language and a couple sexual
references. There is also some alcohol use and light feminist
content where villain makes sexist comparison between the intelligence
of women versus men.
Please address your comments to:
David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg
DreamWorks SKG
1000 Flower Street
Glendale, CA 91201
Phone: (818) 695-5000
Website: www.dreamworks.com
NOTE from Dr. Ted Baehr, publisher of Movieguide Magazine.
For more information from a Christian perspective, order the latest
Movieguide Magazine by calling 1-800-899-6684(MOVI) or
visit our website at www.movieguide.org.
Movieguide is dedicated to redeeming the values of Hollywood
by informing parents about today's movies and entertainment and
by showing media executives and artists that family-friendly and
even Christian-friendly movies do best at the box office year
in and year out. Movieguide now offers an online subscription
to its magazine version, at www.movieguide.org.
The magazine, which comes out 25 times a year, contains many informative
articles and reviews that help parents train their children to
be media-wise consumers.
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