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The Eye (2008)
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Overview
User Rating:
Directors:
Writers (WGA):
Release Date:
1 February 2008 (USA)
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Tagline:
How can you believe your eyes when they're not yours? more
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. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
2 wins
&
2 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(79 articles)
Jessica Alba To Star In Comic Adaptation The Insiders
(From Cinema Blend. 26 November 2009, 2:08 PM, PST)
Alba and Rodriguez re-team for new comic film
(From Reel Loop. 25 November 2009, 4:40 AM, PST)
(From Cinema Blend. 26 November 2009, 2:08 PM, PST)
Alba and Rodriguez re-team for new comic film
(From Reel Loop. 25 November 2009, 4:40 AM, PST)
User Comments:
Blurry around the edges, but still a fine sight
more (135 total)
US TV Schedule:
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | 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 |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for violence/terror and disturbing content.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
98 min | Turkey:92 min (DVD version)
Country:
Colour:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
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 |
France:U (with warning)
Filming Locations:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Jessica Alba particularly liked the fact that, according to her, the film is scary in a different, more subtle way than most other films in the genre, since "the audience is never sure if [her] character really is seeing things or if she's just losing her mind".
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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.
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Quotes:
[first lines]
Teen on Skateboard: Oh shit! Thanks, I didn't see that.
Sydney Wells: Neither did I.
Sydney Wells: [voice-over while Sydney walks in the street and settles in a café] People say seeing is believing, but for me, that's not entirely true. I lost my sight when I was five years old. Those memories of what I have seen have faded so much that I doubt I'd even recognize myself anymore. Now I see using my other senses. I can smell the rain before it drops, but I can't watch it fall. I can feel the sun on my face, but I can't see it rise or set. I want to see the world like everyone else, to see the sun, the rain, the music. Oh I bet music looks beautiful.
more
Teen on Skateboard: Oh shit! Thanks, I didn't see that.
Sydney Wells: Neither did I.
Sydney Wells: [voice-over while Sydney walks in the street and settles in a café] People say seeing is believing, but for me, that's not entirely true. I lost my sight when I was five years old. Those memories of what I have seen have faded so much that I doubt I'd even recognize myself anymore. Now I see using my other senses. I can smell the rain before it drops, but I can't watch it fall. I can feel the sun on my face, but I can't see it rise or set. I want to see the world like everyone else, to see the sun, the rain, the music. Oh I bet music looks beautiful.
more
Soundtrack:
Stars
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FAQ
A Note Regarding SpoilersDid Sydney Wells lose her sight at the end of the movie?
How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?
more
more (135 total)
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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.