Eagle Eye

What happens when the government tries to get intelligence on everyone to try and weed out terrorists and people who plan to do evil unto us? This is the general idea behind the movie Eagle Eye. Eagle Eye is a super computer designed to find people who plan to conspire against the America. All the events of the movie start off with our war on terror and hunting out the people in the world who try to create another attack on America.

Shia Lebouf plays the slacker Jerry Shaw who works at a copy store and just coasts through life till he finds out his twin brother has been killed in an accident. Shia’s performance in this movie is one that I thought would never come. Finally, a role where Shia has to be a mature adult in a role that suits him and his teen angst well.

Michelle Monaghan plays Rachel Holloman, a single mother who does everything she can to help her trumpet-playing son be the best he can. This drive pushes her scum ex-husband away and puts him on a train to play with his school at the white house.

These two characters get a phone call one night by a mysterious female who tells them that if they do not comply with her that they will die. Not something they want to happen, obviously. Jerry comes back from his brother’s funeral to find a weapons cache in his apartment with the FBI about to break in. At first neither Jerry nor Rachel believe that this is actually happening to them, but if they want to survive, they need to work together to find out what is really going on with this mysterious caller.

The dialogue in this movie is very well executed since each line is to help the story move along in a fast pace. The camera works well as it stays close to the action giving the viewer almost the kind of “Holy crap! I’m right there” feeling. Billy Bob Thornton makes a special cameo as the hard ass Agent Thomas Morgan who is determined to catch Jerry Shaw, convinced he is a terrorist.

Each character is well rounded and is only enhanced with the actor’s talent. As the story unravels, the viewer is never bored since each scene brings another piece to the puzzle of what really is going on behind all the scenes. Each part of the puzzle is laid out in the beginning but only truly cones to fruition at the very end of the movie.

This movie plays on our instinctual urges of what would happen if our lives were threatened by an unknown source? Would you obey and go along with what the voice tells you even if it goes against your morals? Or would you disobey and have the possibility of dying an intense death? These questions are all to frequent reminders during this movie to punch the point of creating the connection to the characters.

All in all this movie was very enjoyable and with the ever increasing cost of movie ticket prices, it is very difficult to find movies that are clearly worth the price of them. Though this year, the movie selection has been a very good crop with Eagle Eye entering itself into the mix. Overall, I'd have to give this movie a 6.5 out of 10