Movie Review - 'Eagle Eye'

Eagle Eye

Starring Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, and Billy Bob Thornton
Directed by D.J. Caruso
Rated PG-13

In 2007, Shia LaBeouf starred in a movie called Disturbia. It was a tightly-spun thriller directed by D.J. Caruso, and it was pretty clear to anyone with a history of watching movies that it was a remake of Alfred Hitchock's Rear Window. Over a year later, the estate that holds the copyright for Rear Window brought a lawsuit against the makers of Disturbia for just that reason. A year later, LaBeouf has teamed up with Caruso in another thriller, spun much more loosely, called Eagle Eye. Though it isn't as obvious what its ancestors are, there are hints of War Games and 2001, probably some Enemy of the State, and also another Hitchcock-Jimmy Stewart movie, The Man Who Knew Too Much. Jerry Shaw (LaBeouf) stays out of trouble. Well, big trouble, anyway. He lives modestly, poker game to poker game, and kind of tunes out the rest of the world. His twin brother Ethan did not. Jerry's twin graduated with a brain-crushing degree from the Air Force Academy and had a great job in D.C. That is, he had the job until he was sideswiped in traffic. After Ethan's death, strange things start happening to Jerry. He walks into his apartment and finds it's filled with explosives and weapons. He gets a call from an unknown number. On the other end of the line is a calm woman's voice telling him the FBI will arrest him in 30 seconds. And they do. Across town, Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan) gets a similar call: Get in the black Porsche Cayenne parked across the street and wait for further instructions, or your son dies. Jerry and Rachel share a mission, though we don't know what it is or why they were apparently chosen by whomever is on the phone to carry it out. Eagle Eye is mysterious only because it doesn't tell you anything. You could figure it out if you wanted to - and I didn't want to - but it is not so expertly crafted that there aren't clues lying around everywhere for you if you want them. As with a lot of movies of this ilk, I preferred the supporting performances over LaBeouf and Monaghan, both of whom I like. Billy Bob Thornton was instantly effective playing Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive. As events unfold, you begin to realize that it is the why and not the who that is Eagle Eye's real secret. I like the approach, but the execution is not what it should be. This is sloppy. You can scarcely make out what's going on in the action scenes and the exposition is hit or miss. Thrillers, by definition, need to be thrilling. Espionage thrillers, by definition, need to be techno-savvy and smart. And while two out of three ain't bad for Meat Loaf, we have higher standards.