Alba both victim and villain in ‘The Eye’

Jessica Alba plays a blind concert violinist who suddenly gains her vision – and second sight – in ''The Eye.''

“The Eye” has a mind of its own.

It’s a horror film reminiscent of the classic “Hands of Orlac” and “The Beast with Five Fingers,” two eerie movies about a man’s severed hand with a mind of its own. But there are major differences in both story and treatment. 

Instead of watching a disembodied hand creating horror, Sydney Wells (Jessica Alba) sees horror no one else can see. We see that horror through her eyes after she regains her sense of sight.

As a result, Sydney is both victim and villain in an out-of-body experience that puts limits on the audience’s participation. We see what’s happening but don’t understand why it’s happening, so we distance ourselves from her instead of identifying with her. 

The movie is a mix of story and substance based on a movie made in Hong Kong and remade elsewhere in Asia before its current remake with an American cast.

Sydney was blinded during childhood, but didn’t let that prevent her from becoming a concert violinist. The operation that restores her vision comes when she is an adult and has a double corneal transplant.
When she opens her eyes afterward, she has the uneasy feeling that she’s not in control of her body. She sees scary things and wonders if she is seeing out of someone else’s eyes. If so, her opportunity to see has baffling side effects.

She dutifully follows her doctor’s instructions to accept her new sense of sight gradually. Since she now sees things no one else sees, she wonders if she’s looking at the memories of the original owner of those corneas, and the movie moves gradually to a conclusion.

But we have to get scared half to death first, and, in spite of its PG-13 rating, “The Eye” has enough bloody details to unnerve the audience. The horrific scenes build momentum while Sydney does her level best to come to terms with it.

Alba is beautiful as a needy heroine, but her performance has its flaws. She is not completely convincing as a woman scared out of her wits. Everyone around her looks and acts more baffled than she does.
If evil spirits have possessed her, they don’t know how to handle it. But that isn’t a plot point. This is a horror movie that uses horror itself for a plot point. The first film version followed the Japanese film industry’s reputation for using gruesome horror scenes to both shock and entertain its audience. The unusual plot invites imaginative direction and shockproof acting as well.

Ordinarily that would make an outlandish plot seem credible enough to be scary. But the blood and gore take a backseat in the Hollywood version that suggests that Jessica Alba’s natural beauty is the major reason for “The Eye’s” entertainment value.

Her beauty also reminds us that her character is more of a victim than a heroine. ”The Eye” then becomes more of a spectator sport than a participating one for the audience. We are never able to walk in her shoes to identify with her emotions. The only way for the audience to connect to her is to admire her beauty. It’s her biggest asset and the movie’s biggest selling point.

Studio rating: PG-13
Bob says: “Bring on the popcorn!” **