Film File - Eagle Eye

At the National Military Command Centre at the Pentagon, the Secretary for Defence is at the centre of a critical decision: whether to bomb an important target, a wanted Afghan terrorist. Without total confirmation of his identity, the President orders the attack to proceed at what appears to be a funeral. The bombing triggers a rise in terrorist animosity against the US from overseas, as well as a possible threat from within. In Chicago, 23-year-old layabout Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) is suddenly called home - his identical twin brother, Ethan, an Air Force public relations officer and pride of the family, has been killed in a car accident. Meanwhile, single mother Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan) is sending her eight-year-old son, Sam, off to Washington to play trumpet with his school band at the Kennedy Centre - their first separation. During a night out with the girls, she receives an odd call on her cell phone: a strange woman telling Rachel to follow her instructions implicitly or Sam, now unexpectedly visible on a wall of TV screens across the street, will die. Upon his return to Chicago, Jerry finds his normally empty bank account now contains $750,000, and his sparsely furnished apartment is crammed with do-it-yourself terrorist supplies. He, too, receives a call from the same woman, warning him to run or he"ll be arrested. The idea for 'Eagle Eye" was hatched several years ago by producer Steven Spielberg based around the concept that technology is everywhere and what would happen if it turned against you? What if the technology that surrounds us, that we depend on, suddenly was used on us in ways that could cause harm and was completely out of our control? The idea brings together two strangers who are framed for crimes they didn"t commit, and who are fighting for their lives while trying to prove their innocence. As a hybrid of many Hollywood movies and TV series - 'Enemy Of The State" and '24", for instance - 'Eagle Eye" substitutes smarts for all-out action sequences where the fleeing and confused pair try constantly to understand what exactly is happening. As a scenario that"s been done better before, 'Eagle Eye" fails in forcing the audience to accept a few coincidences that, while pushing on the story, stretch the level of credulity to breaking point. The lead roles work well together in the pretty-in-peril kind of way, and some of the stunts are definitely eye catching. Overall, though, this is a movie probably best left to a DVD viewing on your 37' plasma screen.