The Eye (2008)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Directors:

David Moreau
Xavier Palud

Writers (WGA):

Sebastian Gutierrez (screenplay)
Jo Jo Yuet-chun Hui (2002 screenplay "Jian gui") ...

Release Date:

1 February 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

How can you believe your eyes when they're not yours?

Plot:

The remake of the Hong Kong film "Jian Gui", a woman who receives an eye transplant that allows her to see into the supernatural world.

Plot Keywords:

Eye | Remake | Surgery | Violinist | Mexico

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Jessica Alba	...	Sydney Wells
Alessandro Nivola	...	Dr. Paul Faulkner
Parker Posey	...	Helen Wells
Rade Serbedzija	...	Simon McCullough
Fernanda Romero	...	Ana Christina Martinez
Rachel Ticotin	...	Rosa Martinez
Obba Babatundé	...	Dr. Haskins
Danny Mora	...	Miguel
Chloe Moretz	...	Alicia (as Chloë Grace Moretz)
Brett A. Haworth	...	Shadowman
Kevin K.	...	Tomi Cheung
Tamlyn Tomita	...	Mrs. Cheung
Esodie Geiger	...	Nurse
Karen Austin	...	Mrs. Hillman
Ryan J. Pezdirc	...	Nurse Room Attendant

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence/terror and disturbing content.

Runtime:

98 min | Turkey:92 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #44048) | Singapore:PG | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:15 | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:16 | Malaysia:U | Australia:M | Ireland:15A | Hong Kong:IIB | Finland:K-15 | Taiwan:R-12 | Italy:T | Norway:15 | South Korea:15 | Germany:16 | Brazil:14

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Lionsgate

Trivia:

At one point Renée Zellweger was cast as the lead.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the scene when Sydney witnesses the fire in her apartment, a man grabs her arm and drags her forward. Later, when we see the burn marks on her arm, the mark of the man's palm is on the wrong side, as if he dragged her backwards.

Quotes:

Sydney Wells: I see...
Dr. Paul Faulkner: ...what? Dead people?

Movie Connections:

Remake of Gin gwai (2002)

Soundtrack:

Stars

Blurry around the edges, but still a fine sight

The Eye (2008) I knew going into the theater that this would be a bit scary. OK, maybe traumatizing. I had a LASIK procedure done a couple of years ago, and although I wasn't blind beforehand, I did have pretty bad eyesight. I know a bit about the trepidation - perhaps even outright terror - one feels before undergoing an operation on one's eyeballs. I still get a little skeeved when I see a closeup of eyes, come to think of it.

Jessica Alba plays Sydney, a blind concert violinist who has a double corneal transplant, and of course things go wrong. Not with the surgery itself, but with the psychological aftermath - she sees dead people. And dead things. And undead. And so on; it looks like she's tapped into a spiritual world, or something. No one else can see what she's seeing, which is par for the course in movieland, but all of the demons and smoke and fire and other sfx seem extremely, utterly, real to Sydney.

Alba is excellent, showing that she has more than just two (or three) talents to show the world. Her Sydney is appealing in her vulnerability; Alba, a beautiful young woman, manages to make you feel as if her character could, indeed, live in your world: less glitzy starlet, more three-dimensional person. Of course, she's still a knockout, and she IS a supremely talented musician, and she DOES live in a super-posh apartment in a high rise, but still. Alba shows wonderful range, from tender to fragile, without giving up any sincerity. The movie hinges on her ability to sell the audience on her character's Everywoman (to a point) status, and I think she delivers.

Some of you may be thinking you've already seen this movie before, when it was called Blink. In Blink, Madeline Stowe played a young woman who lost her sight as a child (as did Sydney) and then grew up to be a talented violinist; after a new eye operation temporarily restores some sight, she sees things. Just like Sydney. Huh. Still, this isn't a redo of Blink, it's a remake of a Chinese film called Gin gwai. Asian films have made the rounds of Hollywood in recent years (The Ring, The Grudge, Dark Water), and although the remakes usually don't have the subversive bite of their original counterparts, some of them hold up rather well when inundated with high-tech CGI. The Eye does use special effects, but it uses them - pardon me - to great effect; you're not overwhelmed with attention-grabbing CGI.

The biggest debit in the movie is the love interest, Sydney's doctor, Paul (Alessandro Nivola), who seems dull and unimportant, although his believing in and trusting Sydney is a linchpin for moving the plot. He just seems vacant and stiff, hardly a commendation of Nivola's acting abilities. (Think of a younger Dylan McDermott.) On the other hand, a good counterbalance to Nivola is Parker Posey as Sydney's concerned sister, who, although she doesn't immediately buy into Sydney's rantings, does empathize and attempt to understand a bit better than the hunky doctor.

Overall, The Eye is a tense, shudder-filled movie that manages to dress up a recycled plot with dead-on performances and evocative cinematography.