Red Eye: Critic Reviews

A good measure of the movie's white-knuckle fun comes from Craven's old-hand familiarity with the way thrillers tick, predicated on the smallest and most banal of missed connections, the kind that get an audience to go crazy.

This nifty, tense thriller directed by Wes Craven brings together a classic setup and a relevant-sounding if thoroughly undercooked story involving worldwide terrorism.

Once the plane touches land, things go downhill. The movie devolves into a by-the-book action flick.

Fast and furious and tightly focused and blessedly short at 85 minutes, it recalls not so much today's bloated, computer-crazed films, but tighter melodramas of the '50s.

A movie that, like its heroine, is lithe, limber and quick-thinking. Like a triple latte from the airport Starbucks, Red Eye will keep you awake, jittery and perched on the edge of your seat for pretty much the entire flight.

A one-trick action thriller that feels like a poor cousin of an episode of 24.

Craven's terror-alert white-knuckler is a zippy, unpretentious entry in the subgenre, hinging on the enforced proximity of cat and mouse.

This is a sophisticated genre movie, and it's effective on many levels.

If you can sit back, buckle up and forgive the plot holes on its runway, Craven's bumpy ride is rollicking entertainment, careening from winking humor and cutting dialogue to big action payoffs.

Red Eye proves once again that imaginative wrapping enhances any package's appeal.

Briskly paced, it takes less time than a flight from Denver to L.A. It may not be a classic, but it's way more satisfying than a mini-bag of pretzels and a soda.

The movie turns into a complicated duel that depends on precise observation of physical detail and moment-by-moment continuity so closely calibrated that it's impossible to find a wasted shot or an exaggerated emotion.

After a summer of crashes, bangs, endless chase scenes and special effects that belittle the actors standing in front of them, what a pleasure to see characters in a thriller doing what people like themselves possibly could do.

[A] brisk, efficient B movie.

Craven, an old hand at menace, shifts gears smoothly from the slasher parodies of Scream, offering a more subdued brand of suspense.

Red Eye stretches believability to the breaking point more than once, but the story moves with such headlong speed that there's scarcely time to object.

There are no dinosaurs, starships, monsters or special effects involved. Just two humans pressed too close to one another, locked in a fight for survival. What could be more frightening?

It's encouraging that Craven cast two relative newcomers who are excited about being in the film, rather than stale stars earning a paycheck.

I'm not claiming masterpiece stature for Red Eye, just a solid professionalism in the acting, writing and direction that seems inextricably related to the modesty of its intentions.

Red Eye relies on hoodwinking an audience with its tension, so that the sheer illogic of the conspiracy plot can slip by without detection.

In short, Red Eye hits the bull's-eye.

Teach this one in film schools. Maybe it could save us from all those stupid, nobody-would-do-that plot turns, flaccid formula screenwriting and thrillers that run so long they lose their thrills.

An airborne suspense thriller that terrifies with a smile.

Sitting through Red Eye is like watching a master carpenter at work on a custom bookcase. No one would call the result art, but you're sure bound to admire the sheer craft of the thing.

Red Eye doesn't just stick to the basics -- it reminds us why they still matter.