Red Eye
All actors and roles (10)
Short description
Lisa Reisert is a hotel manager with a fear of flying who boards a night flight to Miami. Shortly after takeoff, her seatmate Jackson Rippner reveals that their meeting was no coincidence. He is part of a plot to kill a senior government official, and he needs Lisa's help because of her position at the hotel where the target will be staying. If she refuses to cooperate, an accomplice waiting on the ground will kill her father. Trapped in the air with no way to reach anyone and miles still to go, Lisa has to find a way to turn the situation around before the plane lands.
Wes Craven directed the film from a screenplay by Carl Ellsworth. It was the twenty-first of twenty-five films he directed, coming after Scream 3 and before Cursed. Rachel McAdams plays Lisa, Cillian Murphy plays Jackson, and Brian Cox appears as her father, with Jayma Mays, Jack Scalia and Robert Pine in supporting roles. Made for a budget of about 26 million dollars, it took in roughly 58 million worldwide.
Audiences are mixed on it: it holds a 6.4 rating on IMDb from about 165,000 votes and the same 6.4 on TMDB from a much smaller base. A film critics' rating of 6.8 from 194 reviews puts professional reviewers somewhat above the general audience. The film runs 85 minutes.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film's script, written long before anyone became interested in it, was intended for Sean Penn and Robin Wright Penn. However, once filming began, Craven preferred younger actors.
- The original title of the film was Red Eye, which literally translates to "Red Eye," but conceptually means "Red-Eye Flight." This is how overnight flights are called in England and the USA, after which most passengers get red eyes due to lack of sleep.
- Screenwriter Carl Ellsworth and his college friend Dan Fuss came up with this plot back in their student days. They continued to develop the script for many years before finally managing to sell it.
- Cillian Murphy so wanted to play the role of Jackson Rippner that he went to a business lunch with director Wes Craven (for which he had to fly from England to Hollywood!) just two days before his own wedding.
- When a woman spills coffee with ice cream on Lisa, Rachel McAdams’ facial expression is a genuine reaction of surprise, not acting: the actress did not expect the drink to be so cold.
- The entire airplane set was made of hydrolix – a very lightweight material. So, when turbulence was required by the script, the entire set was actually shaken.
- A considerable number of prop airline tickets were printed for the film shoot. On the back of each ticket, 12 terms and conditions were printed, just like on genuine airline tickets. However, the 12th stated: 'All conditions of this passenger ticket and baggage check are completely fictitious. This is simply a set of unnecessary details, and if you happen to be reading this, it means you have too much free time. Next time, bring a good book.'
- According to the original script, the pen featured in the plot was supposed to depict the popular cartoon character Bart Simpson. However, the film's producers were unable to secure the rights to use this image, and Simpson was replaced with a certain monster.
- At special preview screenings of the film in Los Angeles and New York, viewers were given accurate copies of the pen featuring the monster as souvenirs. The pen came with a tag that read on one side: '"Night Flight", in theaters August 19th', and on the other: 'Don't take a night flight without it'.
- The name Jackson Rippner sounds very similar to "Jack the Ripper" in English.
- During the filming of an episode in an airplane bathroom, Cillian Murphy misjudged where he was supposed to throw Rachel McAdams. As a result, the actress hit her head hard and lost consciousness for half an hour. When Rachel came to and filming of the episode resumed, Murphy was panicked about hurting the actress again and subsequently held her head with his hand – which is noticeable in the film.
- In the original film, when the "fishermen" pull the net with the rocket onto the deck, they speak in Russian.
- Wes Craven gave Cillian Murphy the role of Jackson Rippner because he was struck by the contrast between his "Romeo face" and "serial killer eyes".
- Lisa Reisert tells Jackson Rippner that her grandmother had a friend named Duke. Earlier in the film "The Notebook" (2004), Rachel McAdams played a character whose husband was nicknamed Duke in old age.
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