Spunky debunkers can't save ridiculous psychic thriller
Rodrigo Cortes' "Red Lights" ranks as one of the shlockiest mystery thrillers in recent memory, a dark and somber tale that squanders a promising premise with a finale so absurd and silly that M. Night Shyamalan would reject it as too unbelievable.
Even the best efforts of heavyweight actors Robert De Niro and Sigourney Weaver can't anchor the flimsy plotting of this story, one that makes "Ghostbusters 2" look like a masterpiece of suspense and style.
The setup proves irresistible at the beginning.
Professor Margaret Matheson (Weaver) and her enthusiastic sidekick, a physicist named Tom Buckley (Cillian Murphy), spend all of their free time - and all their time appears to be free - traveling around the country to expose con artists and frauds who use their supposed psychic gifts to take money from naive clients.
This actually proves to be the most interesting part of "Red Lights." We observe how Matheson and Buckley set traps for the pseudo-psychics by looking for the "red lights," a phrase describing the telltale signs of a con job.
Matheson and Buckley, like a low-rent reincarnation of "X-Files" investigators Scully and Mulder, then use their Sherlockian powers to determine how the charlatans are pulling off tricks that create the appearance of supernatural abilities.
Matheson is a veteran of many years in the field. The only psychic she hasn't been able to debunk is an elusive blind seer named Simon Silver (De Niro), a popular figure whose amazing mental powers to bend objects and read minds have made him a major cult figure.
With Silver coming out of retirement with a new book, scientist Matheson pledges to finally expose the mentalist and prove that supernatural powers do not exist.
She receives backup from Elizabeth Olsen's Sally Owen, a grad assistant who joins Team Matheson to look cute and supply the obligatory potential romantic subplot with Buckley.
Batting for the other side, Joely Richardson handles a woefully underwritten supporting role as Monica Hansen, Silver's quiet manager and confidant.
Meanwhile, back at the university, Matheson encounters competition from Paul Shackleton (Toby Jones), a rival professor who constantly challenges Matheson's skepticism and thinks Silver could be the real deal in the psychic department.
Like she needs this guy any more than the movie itself needs this character.
"Red Lights" humorlessly slogs along until Cortes scores major points by suggesting a frightening scenario: that the enigmatic Silver has the ability to induce heart attacks at will.
Whatever suspense "Red Lights" musters gets rapidly depleted as Cortes sets us up for a ludicrous payoff. This after we're treated to a pat, tacked-on back story designed to provide insight and forced empathy into Weaver's professorial character.
And after a presciently crazy scene in which Buckley bounces back from a beating that would have put most guys in the emergency room, if not the morgue.
"Red Lights" is a disappointingly dim and passionless project from Cortes, who gave us the daring and unconventional thriller "Buried," starring Ryan Reynolds as a man buried in a coffin for the entire running time of the one-person drama.
In "Red Lights," the action and characters feel even more confined than in "Buried," and a lot less illuminating.
“Red Lights”
★ ★
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Robert De Niro, Sigourney Weaver, Elizabeth Olsen, Toby Jones, Joely Richardson
Directed by: Rodrigo Cortes
Other: A Millennium Entertainment release. Rated R for language and violence. 119 minutes