Red Eye

Starring Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, Brian Cox

Rated PG-13

            August is known as a month where great movies are rare (“Broken Flowers” and “Collateral” have been welcome exceptions for the past two years.) “Red Eye,” however, takes a claustrophobic idea (think “Phone Booth”) and proves that not all thrillers have to be stupid.

            Rachel McAdams plays Lisa, a hotel manager returning home from her grandmother’s funeral. While delayed at the airport, she begins a bonding with Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy.) Coincidentally (ha-ha), Jackson also has the seat next to Lisa on the airplane. And what begins as a love story turns into a creepy situation in which Jackson forces Lisa to participate in the assassination of an important political leader, or her father (Brian Cox) will be killed.

            I guess that there can always be surprises, because I went into “Red Eye” with mediocre expectations. But director Wes Craven really did well.

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