‘Eagle Eye’ is a Conventional Cop-Out
-----Boasting the talents of young star Shia LaBeouf, I figured I couldn’t go wrong with ‘Eagle Eye.’ Sure the plot was reminiscent of about 200 other movies, but it would still provide fast-paced entertainment…right? Wrong.
-----‘Eagle Eye’ is the story of Jerry Shaw and the very much unrelated Rachel Holloman. Jerry Shaw is a college drop out barely making ends meat in a tiny apartment. When news of his highly decorated twin brother’s death comes, a series of events start to take over Jerry’s life. First his bank account skyrockets, then he returns home to an apartment full of weapons. Next thing he knows, Jerry is being called by a mysterious voice on his phone telling him the police are on their way, and giving him instructions to escape. Rachel Holloman is a struggling single mother. After sending her son on a trip with his class, she gets a call threatening to kill him…if she doesn’t play along. And that’s when Jerry is told to get in a car with a mysterious woman, you guessed it, Rachel.
-----Shia LaBeouf brings his now expected intensity and passion to the role of Jerry Shaw. He nearly saves the movie, but the incredulity and overall choppiness of the second half are beyond his help. Regardless, he continues to be one of the top young performers in modern Hollywood. I did not, however, care much for Michelle Monaghan as the film’s female lead Rachel. I think much of this comes from an odd chemistry between her and LaBeouf. She’s older than him, and they don’t seem to be romantic interests, but they’re too close in age for a mother-son style relationship. Ultimately they find themselves lost in a grey area. I don’t think she did a particularly bad job, but I just didn’t enjoy her screen time very much, which was the majority of the film. Other notable roles come from Michael Chiklis and Rosario Dawson, both of which I normally enjoy. They too, aren’t bad, but don’t have very much to work with other than cliché character archetypes. Rounding out the cast is Billy Bob Thornton playing the usual hard head character we’ve come to expect from him.
-----The film’s plot starts out intriguingly mysterious. However, as its believability flies out the window, so does the intrigue. About half way through when the, “big reveal” is made, you’ll wish it hadn’t been. It seems the more you learn about the mysterious omniscient voice controlling them, the more conventional and boring it gets. Add all of this to a very erratic and choppy second half that loses focus and direction, and you’ve got a bad movie. Granted it’s not terrible, but it’s not very good either.
-----The finished product is what many may consider passable entertainment for two hours. I, however, normally love long movies but felt this one went way beyond its necessary run time. LaBeouf was good, but it’s just so boring and uninteresting once you find about the voice. It’s just one big rip off of superior films. The many ridiculous moments all come back to you, and you begin to wonder how so many talented people got involved with this mess. If you have to kill time, there’s worse ways to do it; but if you’re looking for a quality movie-going experience, stay away from ‘Eagle Eye.’
