Eagle Eye (2008)
Release Date: Friday September 26, 2008Genre: Thriller Running Time: 117 min. Director: D.J. Caruso Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Rosario Dawson, Michael Chiklis, Anthony Mackie, Billy Bob Thornton
This is what it is: a socio-political commentary parading around as a good action film. It’s entertaining and Shia LaBeouf has some really great one-liners in it. It’s not a film that’s going to change you in any way. In some ways I think this film will do for LaBeouf what Enemy Of The State did for Will Smith. After two block busters you go for something still action like but more human. Will Smith came off Independence Day and Men In Black; in this case Shia is coming off Transformers and the latest instalment of the Indiana Jones saga. You really can’t count New York, I Love You because much like Paris Je T’aime if you aren’t into festivals or art house cinema you probably won’t watch it. I’m into that so I’ll get around to it because I like movies that make me feel happy and make me cry. More of the same: in a more mainstream perspective the film simply isn’t going to be one people really mention when looking back at Shia La Beouf’s career. It’s not right it’s not wrong it’s just what’s the case when the non-arts-oriented will look at when glancing at an actor’s career. It’s Shia’s second time working with director DJ Caruso and it would appear to be a fit–hope to see them continue to work together in the future.
There isn’t much to spoil in this film because you kind of catch on rather quickly as to what’s going on. What it does is make it interesting enough to keep watching. See this is a Hollywood film and it has to finish with someone doing the right thing and that’s what happens. All is not lost and we hope to learn from the whole mess. Truth is we won’t because life isn’t like the movies and no matter how much we screw up and document our screw-ups we are a species with perpetual amnesia. Also, although there is no credit I can find the “female voice” has got to be Julianne Moore. Damned distracting to say the very least because I spent a good portion of the film saying “that’s Julianne Moore’s voice isn’t it?” When I look back at this film I think of something the old folks would say to us kids “si stava meglio quando si stava peggio”—loosely translates to “we were better off when we were worse off”…at the end of this film I am inclined to agree.
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