Film Review

09 January 2009 11:41 BST

Eagle Eye

Directed by DJ Caruso, out now starring Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Billy Bob Thornton, Michael Chiklis .

In a nutshell...

Surveillance thriller with plausibility issues.

What's it all about?

Youngster Jerry (LaBeouf) is framed as a domestic terrorist when he finds piles of weapons and explosives at his apartment. Phoned by a mysterious female voice and joined by single mum Rachel (Monaghan), he must follow every command of the all-seeing power to evade the law as he struggles to unravel an overwhelming conspiracy.


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Who's in it?

Shia LaBeouf is a rising star of mainstream Hollywood, having headlined the smash-hit Transformers, and he'll be returning next year in the much-anticipated sequel. He also co-starred alongside Harrison Ford in Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull earlier this year.

Michelle Monaghan rose to fame in Shane Black's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang opposite Robert Downey Jr and Val Kilmer, promptly followed by a turn as Tom Cruise's beau in Mission: Impossible III. Last year she turned in an impressive performance as Casey Affleck's girlfriend in Boston kidnap drama Gone Baby Gone.

Billy Bob Thornton is known as an accomplished actor, starring in films including A Simple Plan for Sam Raimi, The Man Who Wasn't There for the Coen Brothers and the Oscar-winning Monster's Ball.

Director DJ Caruso worked on critically-acclaimed TV dramas such as The Shield before directing Shia LaBeouf in his first feature, Disturbia. Eagle Eye marks their second collaboration.

As an example...

"Do you think she can derail a train?" - Rachel Holloman
"She got hundreds of firearms into my apartment, she added $750,000 to my bank account, she helped me escape from a high security holding in the FBI in a way I'm not even going to try to explain because it sounds so crazy, and she called the phone of a stranger sitting next to me on a bus, I'd never even seen the guy before in my life. Yeah, I'm pretty sure she can derail a train. She could turn a train into a talking duck if she wanted to." - Jerry Shaw

Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars

There's an outside chance of some technical nods given the film's stateside success, but nothing more.

What the others say

"LaBeouf and Monaghan find themselves caught up in a deadly (boring) conspiracy - a propulsive premise that soon disintegrates into a life-sappingly ludicrous chase to nowhere." – Total Film

"A fun techno romp, mixing great bang for your buck with insights into the dangers of restricting civil liberties." - Empire

So is it any good?

On the face of it, Eagle Eye is a smart concept. The post-9/11 world is a scary place, with government interference in our everyday lives a source of constant controversy. Throw in a couple of innocent citizens forced against their will by a malevolent Big Brother (or in this case sister) entity to carry out heinous acts against the state, and you have a thriller for the times. Scare the audience, put lots of bums on seats, mission accomplished.

It's a shame then that despite lighting up the US box-office, it's unlikely that Eagle Eye will linger long in the memory. The gaping lack of credibility is its biggest problem. The apparently omnipotent mystery woman not only monitors every electrical device that LaBeouf and Monaghan come into contact with (seemingly everything is networked in the US), but also pulls off ludicrous acts of sabotage that include assassinating one non-conformer by somehow blowing up an electricity pylon.

This is less suspension of disbelief and more an acceptance of technical fantasy. The surveillance nonsense is countered only by Shia's natural charisma and the presence of Billy Bob Thornton's fed, whose pissed off attitude seems more motivated by the ridiculousness of the situation than anything to do with character. Michelle Monaghan, meanwhile, provides little more than light eye-candy and a sobby single-mom back-story intended to shoehorn some tenderness into the techno-twaddle.

Some of the action provides a welcome break from the increasingly irritating conversations with Big Sister, such as a particularly bruising car chase and a fun tumble through an airport baggage conveyor belt. Still, while perhaps enough to satisfy those who believe it's not paranoia if they're really after you, the action's not enough to make up for the implausibility overdose.

An occasionally diverting, but ultimately forgettable thriller that's short on thrills.

4/10

Nick Goundry

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