Red Eye is a good B movie, a little thriller that doesn’t bite off more than it can chew but spits out some good heart-stopping scares and keeps the suspense up until the end. It succeeds primarily because it is plausible -- though directed by Wes Craven, it does not involve supernatural spirits or supernatural acts by the cast. Everything seems as if it could actually happen.

Lisa (Rachel McAdams), a hotel manager, is catching a red-eye flight from Dallas, on her way home to Miami. She meets Jack Rippner (Cillian Murphy), who seems quite charming -- perhaps too charming. He’s got that name, though they even joke about that. Rippner turns out to be a terrorist who says he will kill Lisa’s father if she won’t put a government official in a certain oceanfront room at her hotel, so that he can be more easily assassinated.

The chemistry between the two young actors is palpable, both early in the film, when it seems possible they might become romantically involved, and later, when their relationship has become one of cat and mouse. This role should catapult McAdams into major stardom -- she’s beautiful and intelligent, a strong and realistic woman for the 21st century. Cillian Murphy is effectively psychotic and evil as Rippner, whose charm is a mask used to impress and lure Lisa into his web. When Rippner shows his real self, he is chillingly nasty.

The cutting and editing are fast-paced, with lots of close-ups. Marco Beltrami’s musical score heightens the tension and moves the action along, and the moments of heroic action are well staged. The picture and sound are first-rate. If you missed this small gem in the movie theater, be sure to catch it on DVD.

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