The Revisit – Red Eye (2005)

Better late than never. Believe it or not. even before the tragic death of horror maven Wes Craven, I had been planning on doing a column on this little gem of a film for awhile. Yes, I could have chosen a myriad of possibilities from his resume, and Deadly Friend was on the cusp of being included. But in the end, I decided to take another look at one of Craven’s most overlooked films.

Background: After the hellish experience of working on Cursed for the Weinsteins, Craven and his longtime producing partner Marianne Maddalena were looking to do something different and out of the norm. IE: something that would not require a ton of supervision and toying with a vision. This would lead them to Dreamworks Studios, and on a desk lie a script written by Carl Ellsworth entitled Red Eye. Craven knew right away he needed to do it, and before they knew it, both Craven and Maddalena were choosing the best cast to work with of their careers. Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins) and Rachel McAdams (The Notebook) signed on and they were off & running, resulting in one of the smoothest shoots of Craven’s career.

As far as what I was taking into my first viewing, there was a lot going on at the time Red Eye was released in August of 2005. Someone close to me was melding a broken heart, and I was on the cusp of moving into a brand new city, on my way to finishing college. The perfect opportunity was there to help this person’s situation by taking her to the brand new movie by one of my most influential directors and starring one of her favorite actresses.

What I Thought Then: Sometimes walking into a movie carrying baggage gives you a different perspective of the actual movie itself. After spending an hour drying the tears of the person I walked in with, Red Eye ended up being exactly what we needed. In fact, it was such a great experience she went to her MySpace (remember that place?) to rave about the film. At the time, I was shocked at how Red Eye seemed to be three films in one. In the very beginning, we see the beginning stages of a romantic comedy, as Murphy saves McAdams from a disgruntled passenger and they develop a sweet bond. We then see the makings of a tense thriller, as the moment Rippner (Murphy) answers Lisa’s (McAdams) question of what his business is with ‘as luck would have it, my business is you,’ the movie turns. And when the plane touches down, Red Eye turns into an all out action film. Even after directing Meryl Streep in an Oscar nominated performance in Music of the Heart, it was a real head turn to see Craven direct such a talented cast. Both stars were on a rapid rise, and Craven had the deep challenge of directing scenes that called for tense thrills within the confines of a commercial flight. Trust me, it is much more difficult than it sounds.

But Craven pulls it off. When I first saw the movie, I held Red Eye‘s midsection as its strongest. From the seats surrounding our protagonist occupied by suspicious passengers to the small confined space within the plane’s bathroom, Craven did wonders in weaving a mystery ball of tension filled yarn. It’s when the plane touches down when I feel Red Eye falls apart. We rapidly go from having our hearts in our throats to laughing at how a boat can pull up to within perfect striking distance of a deputy secretary of homeland security’s suite, aim a rocket launcher in perfect propensity of the room and take them all out with one shot. Of course, this isn’t the fault of Craven’s, as he did not write the script. In fact, he helped this craziness out by injecting one or two shots establishing the presence of the launcher during the film’s opening credit sequence.

Still, we both walked out of Red Eye satisfied. The movie had enough tension of a high class thriller and just enough action for those in the audience going to theaters in the heart of August still starved for summer action. Mostly, I was satisfied the person I was with was feeling better about her situation. And really, isn’t that what the movies are all about?

What I Think Now: In revisiting Red Eye, I still hold the middle section in very high regard. I had not watched it in close to eight years, so these scenes still thrilled me to no end and were deeply satisfying. It was like watching it for the first time, as I had completely forgotten about Lisa’s scrawling on the bathroom mirror asking for help, and just how fast Rippner’s intentions and glare turned. I also liked its beginning scenes more this time around. Craven’s establishing shots of Brian Cox as Lisa’s dad and even the slight hint of romantic comedy gave inklings of muscles Craven was anxious to flex. Craven helming a romantic comedy may seem out of the norm. But these scenes proved to me that he could in fact have done it if attempted.

Unfortunately, now I am even more harsh on the end of Red Eye than I was then. It is just so out of left field, and scenes of Rippner running around with a self inflicted tracheotomy chasing Lisa at her house border on ridiculous. Though, in taking another look, the scenes are more than a little reminiscent of Nancy taking Freddy apart when she finally pulls him out of his ‘dream world’ in the first Nightmare on Elm Street. Both heroines set up traps for the villains. The thing is, I was not drawn into either scenario. Still, it was nice seeing Craven take his new villain in an offbeat direction while also also giving a sly nod to his most famous incarnation.

In Conclusion: Red Eye has many, many things going for it. It is a taut thriller. It is a showcase for two actors on the rise. And it is a movie that comes in under 85 minutes, proving a movie does not have to be long winded in order to be entertaining. Its last leg hurts it, and a little script tweaking would have been extra beneficial. Still, watching Red Eye today, I cannot help but think of the film as Craven doing what he does best, while at the same time having fun without the worry of the Weinsteins being over his shoulder every other minute. You’re not going to see a director more on his game than here. Wes, you are missed. Though the beauty of Hollywood is that his work will live forever. So if you have an hour and a half to kill and you need a thrill, Red Eye would certainly fit the bill.

Whoa. That rhymed.