Blink

I always wanted to use that word, and in this movie it describes exactly how it made me feel all while I was watching it. Very exciting stuff. Terrific chemistry between Aidan Quinn, who has never been more handsome and compelling, and Madeline Stowe, who is really magnetic in the lead role as the patient-heroine. I don't know why more people don't talk about it more often.

A good, absorbing thriller with an unusual idea at its core, "Blink" also enjoys the benefits of good acting and direction, and some truly heartstopping scenes. What struck me also was its success in making the audience share the "Emma Brody's" confusion when faced with the the sights of the city around her for the first time in years. The very last scene is, perhaps, a bit pat, but we've had our fun by then and can indulge the filmmakers here. Recommended.

This film is among some of the best thrillers written with a good cast and a decent reason to doubt the main witness. Recommended!

There have been a load of psychological thrillers made in this decade, often heaped with sex and gratuitous violence. BLINK uses these familiar conventions, but becomes a powerhouse suspense flick with its convincing characters, ominous camera shots, and beautifully written script. Madeline Stowe stars as a blind violinist for a clubhouse band who is given her sight back with a fortunate (or unfortunate) corneal transplant. She has difficulty adjusting to the seeing world, having recurring images flashed back at her at inopportune times. Even with this handicap, she believes she has been an eyewitness to an escaping murderer, but her biggest feat is to convince the police department of her credibility. Aidan Quinn (an under-rated talent) plays the Chicago cop who believes her claim and falls in love with her in the process. What really stands in BLINK is the honesty in the leads' emotions, afraid to care again after the conventional one-night-stand. The atmosphere is most suspenseful, using Stowe's actual eyesight as a mystery in itself. Amidst all the crap that has been radiated from these types of films, BLINK delivers something credible for a change. Rating: Three stars.

Madeline Stowe of "The Last of the Mohicans" fame stars in BLINK as a feisty musician who undergoes a new type of eye surgery to restore her vision, lost in childhood at the hands of an abusive mom. As her vision slowly returns, she runs afoul of a killer who is convinced she has gotten a good look at him, and is now after her. She tells the cops, who not surprisingly laugh at her. The irony is, she only sees the killer in a sort of surreal way, with the camera serving as Stowe's vision and showing us what amounts to little more than phantasms. She also suffers from mental time gaps with her returning vision. Stowe ends up falling for burly cop Aidan Quinn, who decides she's telling the truth and protects her. There's a nice trick at the very end involving the killer. Suspenseful and stylish for its time, with a thoughtful performance by Stowe.