It’s weird seeing “unsure” Cillian Murphy. That guy could run an entire Institute of Self Confidence. He could lecture the faculty on the entire range of requirements to get a degree in Smug.
Margaret Matheson (Sigourney Weaver) and Tom Buckley (Murphy) are professional ghost busters. It’s cute if you think about Sigourney’s career. Of course, this isn’t so much about destroying paranormal phenomenon as debunking local mischief. Employment-wise, Matheson is a professor and Buckley her T.A., so naturally the university encourages them to go abroad and thwart mischief where they find it. While these two destroy pathetic dreams, the looming specter comes in the form of blind super-mentalist Simon Silver (Robert De Niro). He bends spoons in his spare time. I always wonder how guys like this ever eat soup or cereal.
Red Lights progresses kind of like a elimination tournament. The busters easily dispatch of low–seeded rubes on the way to confrontation with the #1 ranked mystic in DeNiro, who in turn breezes past weaker competition as well. Midway through the film, the Science #1 seed (Matheson) falls, leaving Buckley to face Silver for the championship. I’ll give it up for a film willing to lose the protagonist half-way through. That was ballsy. Sorry for
the spoiler. Can’t help wondering if the producers foresaw a lack of public interest in the film when they allowed this particular gambit. If only they believed in seers.
Lights is an anti-charlatan film; we get these every once in a while in the form of House of Games or Leap of Faith. This particular version has no love of the gamers and little sense of humor about the games. Like many films before it, Red Lights makes a big show of exposing tricks and scams. It’s easy to read the point-of-view: the charlatan is dangerous; worst case scenario — he doesn’t just take your money, he takes your future. I see something a little different. No fan of shysters am I, but this is about personal freedom. If an invalid with a stomach tumor the size of a grapefruit denies doctors, friends, family, on-lookers, lawyers, and common sense in selecting a fantastical non-solution instead of life … well, I don’t actually have a problem with that. The person has selected peace-of-mind over science. This is hardly new or uncommon; I’ve just described every single believer in God. So long as these folks don’t dictate public policy, I say let ‘em follow whatever wacky explanation that gets ‘em through the day.
But don’t expect me to give it thumbs-up.
♪Sigourney! You don’t have to turn on the Red Lights.
Exposing hucksters for no money; insisting that you are in the right.
Cillian! You might have to wear that dress tonight.
Seeing you as the norm … even more disturbing in my sight♫.
Rated R, 94 Minutes
D: Rodrigo Cortés
W: Rodrigo Cortés
Genre: Exposé
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Belittlers
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: The daft
♪ Parody inspired by “Roxanne”
