Movie Review: The Eye

    

The Eye
2008, 96mins, PG-13
Director: David Moreau, Xavier Palud
Writer: Sebastian Gutierrez
Cast includes: Jessica Alba, Alessandro Nivola, Parker Posey, Tamlyn Tomita, Francois Chau
Release Date: 1st February 2008

The Eye is a remake of a cult Asian horror directed by the Pang brothers, a film which I have never seen and after watching this tired story unfold would never wish to. To me this American version reminded of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense, only made to a considerably lower quality and with something of a sexier cast. It might be fine to replace Haley Joel Osment with Jessica Alba and Bruce Willis with the dismal Alessandro Nivola on the surface but on any deeper level this cosmetic change will hurt a picture badly. Along with bad casting then, the film also has to suffer a fright free PG-13 rating, indeed despite the infinite attempts at a genuine scare only one really comes off.
Sydney Wells (Jessica Alba) is a musician who is happily living her life aside from one small detail, she was blinded at the age of 5 when she and her sister where playing. However as of tomorrow things are set to change as she is to receive an eye transplant with which she will be able to see the world for the first time in over 20 years, and whilst the operation itself goes well there are quickly some abnormal side effects. It quickly transpires that whilst she now has perfect sight, Sydney is seeing more than she should in the form of ghosts, escorts for the dead and violent displays from someone’s past. She contacts her sight doctor Paul (Alessandro Nivola) but he is unsure about Sydney’s story purely don to the fact he believes she has become scared of her new ability to see the world. However regardless of his belief he begins to help her unravel the mystery as they discover and travel to the source of these hellish visions.
I struggle to think of a single demographic who will take anything away from The Eye or indeed knowingly bother to watch it if they are given even a slight hint of what they are in for. Teenagers who are the biggest consumers Of PG-13 horror and remakes will be annoyed by the slow plotting and lack of legitimate scares, and anyone older will have seen enough “good” horror films to know that this one is far from worth bothering with. Fans of the original are reportedly disgusted by this American version and those who lust after Mrs. Alba will be once more frustrated to know she stays fully clad during the whole affair. The film was technically profitable at the Box-Office but this was more down to an incredibly small budget than actually drawing decent figures and receipts, probably proving that it’s star has yet to cement herself has a proper financial draw. On DVD with no real fanbase awaiting the film will be by Christmas a bottom shelf rental, a fate I can only underline this turgid thriller deserves.
In the lead Alba can exude only the natural charm the lord gave her, she’s a gorgeous women and a fine comedic foil but as an actress she has far from proven herself. Here she is wooden and engages with the audience only sporadically, a key fault given that the script depends on the watcher being sympathetic to Sydney at all times. Still she is much better than the other main player Alessandro Nivola, an actor who I saw for the first time 7 years ago in Jurassic Park 3 and whom I have been totally disenchanted by since. Here he fails not for her lack of trying to spark a convincing relationship with Alba and to give his own character any life or realistic traits. Every scene the man features in dies as his tired and weak acting lowers the already dubious quality even lower, indeed to say his turn in The Eye might even represent a nadir for Nivola is to highlight just how bad he is. The only other major performer is Parker Posey who is easily the most talented actor in this whole mess, but who has been given the most thankless of roles. As Alba’s sister the underused Posey is involved in many of the movies better scenes but the character as a whole feels unneeded and is poorly formed in the screenplay.
Horror fans will scoff at the cheap tactics The Eye uses to scare the audience, and at how many of these efforts end up falling on their faces.
The PG-13 rating keeps it bloodless and reduces the directorial duo to employing far to many weak and predictable “jump” moments, only one of which had me moving in my seat at all. Any attempts at building tension don’t work as the filmmakers seem to think that CGI shadows and loud music are the best way of doing so, which of course certainly isn’t the case. Indeed the music composed by the usually excellent Marco Beltrami is generic and curiously similar to some of his other pieces, indeed I could have sworn a track from 2006’s The Omen was simply revamped, a film who’s music I know well due to owning the album. This lazy attitude actually sums up The Eye quite well on several levels not just the music.
The screenplay for The Eye is a total drag, it seems incapable of having fun or surprising the audience at all. The finale is easily the movies best bit but that is only due to the lack of anything else to actually recommend because in truth within a better film the fireball finish would seem tepid at best. To call the dialogue bad would be to understate the matter but in a film that fails so badly on several more important horror facets it’s hard to sit and get angry about it. At least directors Moreau and Palud provide a competent set of visuals, the film is nicely shot with alot of dark shades and murky blues given a nice glossy once over. Many of the sets are fairly atmospheric and would have been a solid base from which to stage the non-existent frights the filmmakers attempt to weave into the mix.
The Eye is a bad film and will probably not be far off the years bottom 10, leaving aside it’s effective look this is one efforts that has virtually nothing going for it. The performances are sub-par, the scares poor even for the easily frightened and the script is an overly serious unenjoyable mess. If Jessica Alba wants to stay in Hollywood for any considerable time and avoid doing Playboy spreads for money I can only suggest she be alot more conservative when selecting scripts and stay toward comedy, because The Eye is yet another suggestion that her placing in the film business may not have that long left in the tank.