It’s been 70 years since the publication of Nineteen Eighty-Four and Big Brother is still on our minds. Thanks to the Internet, surveillance cameras and the Patriot Act, no one is ever anonymous. Americans are worried about troubles at home and abroad, so obviously Hollywood felt it was time for a big-budget film about the anxieties of modern life. Eagle Eye is no Orwellian nightmare, but that doesn’t stop filmmakers from stomping the life out of what could have been a decent action thriller.
Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) is having the worst day of his life. After the funeral of his twin brother, Jerry arrives home to discover that his apartment contains a terrorist’s dream amount of bomb-making equipment and an extra $750,000 in his bank account. Seconds after he receives a phone call from a mysterious woman, Jerry is arrested by the FBI. He is briefly interrogated by Agent Morgan (Billy Bob Thorton) before he follows the woman’s directions and escapes custody. Jerry meets Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan), a single mother who is also being manipulated by the mysterious caller. Together they must evade the authorities and obey the orders of the woman, despite the possible consequences, to save their lives and those of the ones they love.
Eagle Eye is the second collaboration between D.J. Caruso and LaBeouf. The two worked together on Disturbia with much better results. That film wasn’t terribly original, but it was suspenseful and funny. Eagle Eye proves that the former success had more to do with LaBeouf’s considerable charisma than talented direction. LaBeouf is able to do the same with Eagle Eye — at least for a little while. Not even the combined powers of Monaghan’s pretty hair and LaBeouf’s animal magnetism can distract from the reek wafting off of the last third of this film.
The identity of the mysterious woman and the forces manipulating Jerry and Rachel is obviously meant to be a shocking twist in the plot, but instead it is a disappointing development that does nothing to inspire more excitement in the audience. Countless films have used the same device before, and many of them did so with greater success. The only thing that is surprising about the revelation is how uninspired it turns out to be. It’s downhill from there.
Despite the best efforts of the actors and stunt coordinators, the final section of the film is mildly interesting at its best and, at its worst, criminally lame. The climax is dramatic and emotional, but it is immediately undermined by an ending that is cheesy and unsatisfying. A test audience must have howled and thrown tomatoes until the filmmakers tacked on this ending.
The film is a mish-mash of Nineteen Eighty-Four and a notorious film about the dangers of technology (to reveal the title would be a massive spoiler, but trust me, you’ll feel like you’ve been hit over the head, it’s so blatant). Unfortunately, the result is nowhere near as awesome or unnerving. By borrowing from the masters, Eagle Eye exposes its own weaknesses. After a promising first half full of explosions, creative plotting and solid acting, Eagle Eye collapses under a heap of unimaginative twists and a painful ending.
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