David O'ConnellThe Eye of Jessica Alba
June 16th 2008 04:37
Jessica Alba is the main attraction in The Eye, David Moreau and Xavier Palud’s adaptation of the original 2002 Hong Kong film of the same name which was written and directed by the Pang Brothers, Danny and Oxide. It was a decent little supernatural chiller, and the greatest surprise about this American update (co-directed by two Frenchmen!) is that it’s competent and far more watchable than a few of the other Asian remakes of recent times which are being churned out at an alarming rate.
Alba is Sydney Wells, a concert violinist who has been blind since an accident with firecrackers at the age of five. Now she’s about to receive cornea transplants which will alter her life in many ways. However it’s not long before her first blurry perceptions of the world as an adult are foreshadowed by ominous inklings of trouble to come, with a dark figure creeping around the edges of her sight – a type of grim reaper who has come to claim a dying woman in a nearby hospital bed.
Things only get worse when she returns home to her apartment. At night her bedroom begins to undergo a terrifying transformation into a scene from an alternate world with the walls shifting around her. At first confused and dismayed by these visions she seeks an explanation from her specialist Dr. Paul Faulkner (Alesandro Nivola), and though no amount of ludicrous theorizing about the possibility of a donor’s eyes passing on cellular memories can convince us that these weird occurrences have any connection with the real world, there is a certain compelling arc to the narrative.
As the visions become darker and more sustained, with the grim reaper-like figures fully exposed as what they are – precursors of death for somebody close by – doctor and patient can even share in the joke that, just like Haley Joel Osment, Sydney can “see dead people”!! With her sight becoming clearer, Sydney is sure she’s being haunted by the spirit of her donor who she can see in the mirror as her own reflection. She regresses mentally, overwhelmed by the distressing new stimuli and shuts herself off briefly, wishing she was blind again.
The film sticks surprisingly close to the original film as she tries to track down the family of the young woman whose eyes she now perceives the world through, hoping to determine whether there’s an ultimate purpose behind the hauntings, some catastrophe she’s meant to prevent.
Jessica Alba - for perhaps the first time I can say this - is quite OK. In truth I’ve tried to avoid her films in the past and the fact that she gives a performance in The Eye that makes Sarah Michelle Gellar look ordinary in The Grudge and The Return should in no way be construed as praise. But she’s reasonable here and actually projected her character’s terror in a half-convincing way.
The formerly great indie character actress Parker Posey continues her downhill slide into soul-selling terrain as a cardboard figure in the background for a few moments here and there, apparently as Sydney’s sister Helen. Nivola, who has previously been quite good in films like Best Laid Plans and Junebug, gives a serviceable performance but he’s mostly just around to deflect Sydney’s fears and discomfort with consoling gestures and theories about what is or isn’t going on with the poor woman’s peepers and, by association, her sanity!
Fifteen minutes into this film I was wondering how it could possibly sustain interest for 90 minutes but there are more than enough spooky, chilling visions at regular intervals - presented in visually interesting terms by the directing duo - to ensure that it’s never a bore. It’s undoubtedly generic and quite predictable, even if you’ve never seen the original, but I found something about it reasonably entertaining.
Certainly you won’t remember a thing about it a week later, but The Eye is a fun and chilly ride while it lasts.
Alba is Sydney Wells, a concert violinist who has been blind since an accident with firecrackers at the age of five. Now she’s about to receive cornea transplants which will alter her life in many ways. However it’s not long before her first blurry perceptions of the world as an adult are foreshadowed by ominous inklings of trouble to come, with a dark figure creeping around the edges of her sight – a type of grim reaper who has come to claim a dying woman in a nearby hospital bed.
Things only get worse when she returns home to her apartment. At night her bedroom begins to undergo a terrifying transformation into a scene from an alternate world with the walls shifting around her. At first confused and dismayed by these visions she seeks an explanation from her specialist Dr. Paul Faulkner (Alesandro Nivola), and though no amount of ludicrous theorizing about the possibility of a donor’s eyes passing on cellular memories can convince us that these weird occurrences have any connection with the real world, there is a certain compelling arc to the narrative.
As the visions become darker and more sustained, with the grim reaper-like figures fully exposed as what they are – precursors of death for somebody close by – doctor and patient can even share in the joke that, just like Haley Joel Osment, Sydney can “see dead people”!! With her sight becoming clearer, Sydney is sure she’s being haunted by the spirit of her donor who she can see in the mirror as her own reflection. She regresses mentally, overwhelmed by the distressing new stimuli and shuts herself off briefly, wishing she was blind again.
The film sticks surprisingly close to the original film as she tries to track down the family of the young woman whose eyes she now perceives the world through, hoping to determine whether there’s an ultimate purpose behind the hauntings, some catastrophe she’s meant to prevent.
Jessica Alba - for perhaps the first time I can say this - is quite OK. In truth I’ve tried to avoid her films in the past and the fact that she gives a performance in The Eye that makes Sarah Michelle Gellar look ordinary in The Grudge and The Return should in no way be construed as praise. But she’s reasonable here and actually projected her character’s terror in a half-convincing way.
It won't always be Sydney looking back in the mirror
The formerly great indie character actress Parker Posey continues her downhill slide into soul-selling terrain as a cardboard figure in the background for a few moments here and there, apparently as Sydney’s sister Helen. Nivola, who has previously been quite good in films like Best Laid Plans and Junebug, gives a serviceable performance but he’s mostly just around to deflect Sydney’s fears and discomfort with consoling gestures and theories about what is or isn’t going on with the poor woman’s peepers and, by association, her sanity!
Fifteen minutes into this film I was wondering how it could possibly sustain interest for 90 minutes but there are more than enough spooky, chilling visions at regular intervals - presented in visually interesting terms by the directing duo - to ensure that it’s never a bore. It’s undoubtedly generic and quite predictable, even if you’ve never seen the original, but I found something about it reasonably entertaining.
Certainly you won’t remember a thing about it a week later, but The Eye is a fun and chilly ride while it lasts.
Alessandro Nivola as Dr. Faulkner
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Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
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Fat Cult
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Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
Why make a remake unless it is better?
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
And you're right Damo, this was another totally unnecessary remake but the prospect of quick dollars, cashing in on the current trend of Asian remakes, seems too good for the studios to pass up at the moment - especially when nobody can actually come up with any original ideas!