Red Eye (2005)

Director: Wes Craven
Writers:  Carl Ellsworth, Dan Foos
Cast:       Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, Brian Cox

A woman is kidnapped by a stranger on a routine flight. Threatened by the potential murder of her father, she is forced to assist her captor in assassinating a politician who is staying in the hotel where she works.

Red Eye flights are those which start late night and reach early morning and are named as such because of the fatigue symptom of having red-eyes due to such late night travel. Film is a stripped down thriller which offers what you expect very much in a neat way. Performances are good from the principal characters although one feels that Cillian Murphy, who is Irish, is struggling a little with the American accent he is trying to pull off. The ambition of the film is limited and we are shown whatever is necessary without any pretensions. It is a cheaper looking 'Panic Room' where the claustrophobia of the house and the 'panic room' is replaced with the economy class seats in a plane. It is a solid little film and a great one time watch.

I haven't seen any other films directed by Wes Craven, who is most famous for 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'. The role that Cillian Murphy is not too dissimilar from his Scarecrow in 'Batman Begins' which also came out in 2005. I read a recent interview he did with Guardian I think where he comes across as someone with integrity towards his craft without playing by Hollywood rules. So any films that he picks is pretty much guaranteed to be interesting. Rachel McAdams is supposed to be in talks for a role in True Detective Season two and she is a solid enough actress.

Rating: 3/5