Review of Red Lights (2012) by Heba M — 23 Mar 2013

Sometimes a movie has such a compelling concept and cast that I will make a point of seeing it, even if the reviews are mixed at best. Sometimes, that ends up being worthwhile. And sometimes, the reviews were right and a great cast and engaging concept were not enough to exceed the other shortcomings.

RED LIGHTS falls, sadly, into the latter category. A terrific cast of both "grand" names (Sigourney Weaver, Robert DeNiro) and some younger actors who've done great work (Cillian Murphy, Elizabeth Olsen). An interesting concept...a couple of professors (Weaver & Murphy) who go around debunking paranormal activity come up against the most famous psychic in the world (DeNiro). Sounds like fun.

Well, the idea is good. The plot does take some interesting turns. But the dialogue and character development is pretty pitiful, and the editing is quite poor. The movie leaps around in tone for no reason. Overall, it wants to be serious (as befits these "great" actors), but then there are moments of silly playfulness that practically remind me of the TV show "Supernatural" and the light banter between the two brothers. Characters are not fleshed out...such as when Murphy's 30-something professor invites a young student to lunch (Olsen) and the next thing you know, they appear to be practically living together, even though we barely sense a spark between them. DeNiro is in relatively little of the film, and there's one completely perplexing scene where he interacts one-on-one with Murphy in which the dialogue makes him sound like a lightweight & laughable version of Brando's character in APOCALYPSE NOW. He spouts "lofty" sounding pseudo-philosophy that makes no sense...in fact, it goes beyond that to uncomfortably laughable.

Writer Rodrigo Cortes is not helped in his efforts by the director Rodrigo Cortes. The script is flawed, and the direction seems to play into those flaws, rather than minimizing them. It makes me believe that Cortes really feels he is making a grand statement about belief and our need to believe in something beyond the "ordinary" world. (There are some scenes with Weaver and her comatose son that are mildly touching, because Weaver is such a good actress.) But what he's really got here is an extended Twilight Zone episode that needs a bit more building tension and a sense of dread...and easily 15 minutes less running time.

I'm curious to know how this excellent cast was assembled for a movie that is so problematic. Perhaps the original script was better and during filming, was weakened. Perhaps they are all cousins of the director and did it as a favor. I just don't know. At least none of them have irreparably tarnished their reputations. Weaver comes out best, and while in many ways Murphy's character is the silliest, he's a very interesting actor. Olsen is nearly a non-entity, but she doesn't do anything to embarrass herself. DeNiro gives one of his "paycheck" performances that he's done so much of lately (which makes his truly committed work in a film like SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK so much more important).

Trust me...even if you're a big fan of this cast...don't spend 113 minutes of your life on it.