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Red Lights (DQ)

3/10

Stars: Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver, Robert De Niro, Toby Jones, Elizabeth Olsen, Joely Richardson, Karen David

Director: Rodrigo Cortés

A good cast is wasted in this psychological drama from director Cortés, who also made the much better Buried with Ryan Reynolds a couple of years back.

Murphy and Weaver are paranormal investigators who, in similar fashion to Rebecca Hall's character in The Awakening, expose fake spiritualists and those who claim telepathic powers. These little segments are the most interesting in the film, which all too soon segues into the main event, as the duo sets out to tackle back-from-retirement psychic Simon Silver (De Niro), who obviously claims to be the real thing.

The loss of Weaver's character half-way through the narrative is a huge blow, as the rest of the footage without her hardly amounts to a hill of beans, especially the slight (and ludicrous) twist in the tail. Murphy and De Niro bring surprisingly little to the table, while Olsen and Richardson are barely in it.

Like De Niro's final 'demonstration', it's pretty much a non-event. And the title is as meaningless as most of the action.

David Quinlan

USA 2011. UK Distributor: Momentum. Colour by deluxe.
113 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 0, Swearing 1.

Review date: 12 Jun 2012