Red Lights

Paranormal activity...aren't people getting tired of this yet? ...sigh... Actually, with such a top-notch cast, this actually IS a cut above your average run-of-the-mill R-rated spook show.

I was impressed by:

• Sigourney Weaver ("Rampart") as Professor Margaret Matheson, a prominent investigator of paranormal phenomena; she teaches students how to spot a phony.
• Robert De Niro ("Machete") is Simon Silver, a world-renowned psychic who retired years ago, after the death (by natural causes) of an outspoken critic. Silver is making a comeback.
• Cillian Murphy ("Red Eye") is Tom Buckley, a physicist who has attached himself to Professor Matheson in single-minded deter- mination to debunk paranormal activities.
• Joely Richardson ("Anonymous") is an acolyte of Silver's, who travels with him and assists with his comeback campaign.
• Toby Jones ("Captain America") is Paul Shackleton, one of Professor Matheson's colleagues. He wants to prove or disprove once and for all, whether or not paranormal activities are real.
• Elizabeth Olsen ("Liberal Arts") is Sally Owen, one of Professor Matheson's eager students.

Cillian Murphy continues to impress me. This time he speaks "American" (as does Toby Jones), and his character is earnest, smart, resourceful and determined. There are many layers to each character, which only serve to enrich the story and hold our interest. There is no doubt that we are seeing paranormal activities, but where do they come from and why? I loved the line, "Never mind. It's just a bird," when for some reason, yet another bird smashes to its death against a window.

There is an inchoate sense of impending doom that I found disconcerting. For my taste, there were far too many "GOTCHA!" moments but at least we weren't left with any questions. And that's a GOOD thing!

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Here is a link to a preview:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3842417177/
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