Theatrical Review of The Eye

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Here are some words I never thought I´d utter about "The Eye," a remake of a Hong Kong film in the same vein as "The Grudge" and "The Ring": it´s not half bad. I mean, there´s nothing in this Jessica Alba thriller which is going to reinvent the genre, breathe new life into it or get it an Oscar nomination. But it´s never offensive to the intelligence nor is it as gleefully gory as the "Saw" series.

Sydney Wells (Alba) has been blind since the age of five when an accident with fireworks robbed her of her vision. Prodded by her sister, Helen (Parker Posey in a thankless role), she receives a cornea transplant. The new eyes give her the ability to see the world, but also unleash the specter of death into her consciousness. Her surroundings change, gray shadows follow people on the edge of the death and she begins to have very real nightmares.

The premise of "The Eye" (shouldn´t it be called "The Eyes?") relies on something called cellular memory, the idea that organs carry memories, habits, interests and other unique identifiers of various individuals. For example, according to the film, a person who received a new liver with no previous history of smoking took up the habit-down to the same brand-as the donor. A girl with a new heart led police to the killer of her donor. And so, by default, Syd believes she is seeing the way her eye donor died…or, at the very least, a very traumatic event in her life.

(It should be noted at this point the concept of cellular memory is dismissed by the scientific community since no credible information exists on the subject.)

There comes a point very, very late in the film-late as in the last five minutes-where all the good will the production has racked up goes flying out the window. Regardless of source material, sometimes a writer and director can´t adhere so slavishly to the work they are adapting. This is such a case. After the build up to Syd´s ability to help people and the proverbial gymnastics she has to go through in order to convince therapist Paul Faulkner (Alessandro Nivola) she isn´t mentally unstable, it´s a cheat to take all her progress away. At the very least, think about the possibilities for future films if this one does well at the box office.

Even with the finale and conceit of cellular memory, "The Eye" still holds up remarkably well, perhaps better than any film in the genre has before. Sure, some of the acting by Alba is circumspect, but her co-stars (Posey and Nivola) are equally as useless. I´d tempted to forgive the main character just a bit more than the other two since she does manage to play scared, confused and authoritative well enough. (Another thing she has going for her is reverting back to a more natural hair color as opposed to the god awful blonde from the "Fantastic Four" films.) But with Helen and Paul, we tend to expect more out of both of them, from an acting and character standpoint.

Sure, I understand seeing someone else´s memory through a set of transplanted eyes is unusual. I´d even grant not many people would believe it themselves. But, for the sake or argument, with no history of mental illness, hypochondria or delusions in her history, why can´t Syd get the benefit of the doubt? Granted, it is easier for us to believe Syd since we see what she sees (therefore giving us proof). Medical history means nothing, though? Nor does her relationship with Helen?

As for the acting, aside from Alba, it´s generally miserable. The Parker Posey we´ve come to expect is quirky and a scene stealer. After all, didn´t she make a name for herself in independent movies off the beaten trail? Here she´s one note-and a bad one note at that. There´s no sense of anything which makes her a human being. And she´s devoid of higher brain functions: Syd has just gone through major surgery yet when she insists on being alone the first night out of the hospital, Helen´s fine with it. Her reasoning for pushing the transplant is a tad selfish, too. She blames herself for the accident. So, in some ways, everything happening to Syd is Helen´s fault.

Trailers would have you believe "The Eye" is a horror film. Really, it´s not. There are a couple scares, though none of them are of the grotesque type and all are obvious from ten feet away. This truly is a story of exploration, finding out why Syd is having visions. Only one problem: it takes entirely too long to start on the journey. Fully the first half of the film is devoted to new sights with the eyes and trying to get people to understand them. Well and good, define the universe and the problem. But when the audience is ahead of the character at every step, aching for the characters to catch up, it gets a bit monotonous. Not offensive, just a bit monotonous.

Once Syd and Paul (Helen drops out of the film for no apparent reason) hit Mexico, the story moves forward as it probably should have been doing the entire time. And in the finale…well, can´t spoil that. Let´s just say it´s nice to see a plot hold together-and make sense-while so many others disintegrate upon closer examination. (One question, though: how do the eyes make their way from Mexico to the United States and eventually to Syd? Eh, doesn´t really matter, I guess. Just a question.)

(I´m guessing I shouldn´t mention screenwriter-or adapter, take your pick-Sebastian Gutierrez was also responsible for "Snakes on a Plane," should I?)

There are some movies you just have to buy into, including the science. "The Eye" is one of them. It´s nowhere as despicable a film as "The Grudge" travesties or as obscenely hellbent on throwing dimly lit scares at the audience like "Alien vs. Predator." It´s not perfect. It just happens to be just involving enough to warrant a 5 out of 10. Think of the score as the glass is half full as opposed to half empty.

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