Red Eye : Sous haute pression

Every now and then you stumble upon a movie that you've never heard of, but that manages to catch your attention with a plot that's intriguing. In this case, it's about a woman on a late night flight who gets caught up somehow in a plot to assassinate the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security.

The woman is Lisa (played by Rachel McAdams.) Lisa is the manager of a fancy hotel in Miami where the Deputy Secretary stays when in the city. In the airport, waiting for her flight, Lisa is befriended by Jack (Cillian Murphy.) Jack is a friendly guy, basically seeming to be interested in hitting it off with a pretty woman like Lisa. And yet, it's clear from the start that there's something not quite right with the character; something creepy - even sinister. Murphy did a great job with this character. He, of course, is involved with the plot. His job is to coerce Lisa into using her clout as manager to change the Deputy Secretary's room to on where he'll be more vulnerable.

The whole thing leads up to a pretty exciting last 20-30 minutes, from the point at which Lisa manages to escape from Jack, and it turns into a pretty typical pursuit sort of movie as Jack chases Lisa (and sometimes Lisa chases Jack.) That's standard in a lot of ways, but still pretty well down, and it has you on the edge of your seat from time to time, waiting to see how it will turn out.

Director Wes Craven did a decent job of building the suspense in this. It starts out a bit slowly, but builds magnificently to that very exciting end, and in a lot of ways this has an underlying and very appropriate tongue in cheek feel to it, and it ends on a humorous note, going back to an obnoxious couple staying at the hotel, who are none too pleased that they've been inconvenienced by the assassination attempt. Overall, this is very well done. (7/10)

When Red Eye first came out I thought it was somewhat cheesy and lacking in any scriptural integrity. However, revisiting this 10 years later has changed my mind. It actually is quite a nice thriller, with the action starting very early, even before they board the plane. You understand the Cillian Murphy character is "off" almost from the outset. Great thrillers offer subtle humor as well, and this one does in droves. While I love aviation movies, most of the action appears after the plane lands. But that is OK, as the movie keeps up the pace throughout. A nice, tight suspense film with (yes, some questionable acting here and there), but overall a nice suspense/thriller.

"Red Eye" is all about Lisa (McAdams) who is simply trying to get home during a bad weather snarl at the airport and finds herself stuck on a red-eye and flying headlong into a suspense drama. A busy, fun little no brainer, "Red Eye" begins like a romcom, morphs into a suspense/action flick, and takes you on a simple-minded but entertaining girl power ride as Lisa races with the clock to save the day. Probably worth the price of a DVD rental, "Red Eye" will play best with fans of rising star McAdams and those who no brain it to avoid it's many nagging plot holes. Keep expectations real for maximum enjoyment. (B-)

Not a bad movie, but once it got to the halfway point it seemed like too much was crammed into a short period of time. Felt too short. The story does have some memorable parts. Nice little PG-13 thriller. Odd viewing it for the first time after 20 years of it being released. I was mildly surprised to have never heard of it with big names (in the present) like Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy. Parts of it are kinda hollow. One sad attempt at a side story personalization is with a little girl on the flight. It was a typical early 2000s context focus on an irrelevant character. Honestly thinking now this seems almost like a way to get younger audience members involved in the story. There's a small degree of cheesiness. But as having been very much alive during the time period it made nostalgic for those days. Captured the feeling of airports and air travel that I've grown up with. If there was more time given to the filmmaker to develop the second half of the story so it doesn't feel so rushed I would enjoy it much more.

I've seen this film so many times and it is exciting and entertaining every time. This film works so well thanks to the way the antagonist was set up. You honestly would never have guessed!

The film holds a few interesting twists and surprises. Cillian Murphy and Rachel McAdams are both excellent and believable in their roles. Just like 'Speed' the film gets even more thrilling and interesting when you think its almost over. I absolutely love this!