Eagle Eye landed in movie theaters after a big advertising push. Produced by Steven Spielberg, the movie stars Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Rosario Dawson, Michael Chiklis, and Billy Bob Thornton in the key roles. I loved the teasers and trailers I saw, and my appetite was thoroughly whetted for an action/adventure romp.
When the movie opened up with a Middle East terrorist operation, I knew the show wasn’t going to stay out of politics and that bothered me somewhat. Given everything that’s going on in the news at present, I really wanted a respite from politics and the twins, doom and gloom.
Once Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) comes on screen, the tone takes a definite change. I relaxed a little as we got into Jerry’s life, and that became a landslide of change when he’s notified of his twin brother’s death. In just a few short moments more, the game is in play. Jerry gets framed for being a terrorist in a way that forcibly makes you check disbelief at the door. The first incredible thing, to me, was that he opened all the boxes containing weapons and military intelligence information. After the first one, I would have been out the door. I wouldn’t have needed the creepy voice on the phone.
Unfortunately, Jerry’s instincts are hampered by the script, which says that he’s supposed to stand around there and get caught by Homeland Security. The second incredible thing to me is that Jerry’s connection to his dead brother and the top secret project he was working on didn’t immediately trigger a lot of red flags throughout the intelligence community.
LaBeouf really pulls off the character, though. Jerry felt real, a desperate slacker blindsided by something far beyond his comprehension. Michelle Monaghan plays Rachel Holloman, a single mother, who gets trapped in the same web of deceit and double-cross that has snared Jerry.
After the opening acts had played out, I started grooving on the movie. It feels very Hitchcockian, and I was reminded again and again of North by Northwest, including the attack plane pursuit. I love movies with lots of action, layers, and duplicity that keep me guessing throughout. Eagle Eye does precisely that.
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