‘Eagle Eye’ or “I thought I smelled some Julianne Moore in this movie” (Review)
As a society we assume that technology and evolving tech fields will make our lives easier- if everything is integrated in one place or another it’s less we have to worry about. It allows us more time to become wrapped up in our own lives. However, what happens when our own technology can be used against us? When something as simple as a cell phone can be used to listen in on our lives, track our current location and even give us instructions that we would never willingly do. ‘Eagle Eye’ explores the ramifications of the solidifying technological resources and what happens when that goes awry in this modern techno thriller. Plus we get a little bit of Shia LaBeouf thrown in as a bonus.
‘Disturbia’ director D.J. Caruso is back again to helm this entertaining yet disposable popcorn flick. Caruso and LaBeouf who’ve previously worked together on ‘Distrurbia’, have a good chemistry when it comes to making films. I found ‘Disturbia’ to be a very slick update up Hitchcock’s classic thriller ‘Rear Window’ and I’m happy to say Caruso seems to have some true talent that he gets to display here in ‘Eagle Eye’. He takes an interesting premise that falls apart and becomes absurd once you learn the inherent twist of the story. He manages to direct the film in fine fashion to make it actually come across as a believable story. This fully demonstrates the power of his direction in ‘Eagle Eye’.
I sat through ‘Eagle Eye’ and thoroughly enjoyed the film the whole way through. It manages to suck you into a semi-plausible story (at first). Shia LaBeouf, say what you will but the man can act! If a lesser actor had been cast in this role, the movie would have failed to deliver a believable protagonist. It has its fair share of problems thoughout and the moment you start to break down the story, the film falls apart rapidly. The one massive problem with the premise of ‘Eagle Eye’ is that if you have any concept or knowledge of modern technology, you know that the main gimmick of the movie cannot feasibly ever happen in reality. The twist of the movie really breaks the story even if it keeps ramping up the action for the viewer. The twist in the movie is really based around the big real of who the mysterious voice on the other end phone is, and why she wants Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) and Rachel Holloway (Michelle Monahan) to go about doing the various tasks they are forced into doing by the voice on the phone (an unaccredited Julianne Moore).
The supporting cast of ‘Eagle Eye’ is a diverse and talented group of people. Rosario Dawson, Billy Bob Thornton and Michael Chiklis all provide their talents to round out the cast. While Dawson is underused, it’s a nice change to see Michael Chiklis cast as an upstanding character and out of his Fantastic Four makeup. Billy Bob Thornton has a fantastic standout role as a NSA agent trying to understand what Jerry and Rachel are up to and slowly trying piecing together why all of this is happening.
A gripe I had with ‘Eagle Eye’ (which is less related to the story and most likely the studios influence) was the gratuitous product placement in the film. There are scenes were Jerry and Rachel are ordered to go to the McDonalds, circuit City and Macy’s, etc… It’s one thing if the story calls for the characters to these types of places, but it’s a whole different matter when the voice on the phone is dropping these stores by name. Jerry works for a fictional copy store in the beginning of the film, which is odd that it’s a fictional store when it could have easily been a Kinko’s. The choices of what to include as product placement seems very unnecessary and even gratuitous at times. The video game Rock Band is even mentioned by name in one scene and showcased with a shot of the large packaging it comes in. This took me out of the film more than anything. Thankfully it’s a very brief scene.
This movie is a technology thriller. It involves enough plausible elements with many more seemingly unbelievable and even absurd ones, which leads to an entertaining story that once dissected becomes preposterous. The flow of the film ramps up the action more and more and there is no defining moment during the course of the movie where you stop and say to yourself, “wait, what?” That comes after you leave the theater and start to think about how the characters got from point A to B and eventually to Z. That’s where the film falls apart. There are so many needless actions that the characters are put through just to get to the conclusion of the film its almost hilarious. The twist of the film is very divisive. If you can get past it, you’ll have a fun time. ‘Eagle Eye’ is not challenging cinema, but it is a very fun popcorn film that shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
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