Friday 24 February 2017

Freeview film of the day : friday 24th of February

Red Eye (2005 81min.) [Film4 11.05pm &+1]

Lisa Reisart (Rachel McCadams) makes a random connection with the charming Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy) while waiting for her flight back to work after visiting her dad (Brian Cox).

During the flight Rippner's true motives are exposed. Rather than a chance meeting Reisart has been targeted because, using the threat of the murder of her father, she is able to help Rippner's terrorist mercenaries achieve their aim.

Carl Ellsworth's script doesn't bother itself too much with motivation or the psychology of either character but settles instead for moving the story forward at a decent pace.
Wes Craven directs with a lot of extreme close-ups and two shots in order to heighten the sense of McCadams being trapped in Murphy's orbit.

The whole thing is neatly put together; there's a genuine sense of tension, a couple of very strong performances from the two leads and (as you would expect from Craven) taut and lean direction with hardly a shot wasted.

The denoument may be a little fantastic but it's a satisfying end to a film that knows it's limits and doesn't make any attempt to overstep them.

No comments:

Post a Comment