We judge it for you: Eagle Eye

Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan in Eagle Eye

Ever since George Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece 1984 made people fear the influence of Big Brother, there have been countless books and movies that exploited the paranoia that “someone” — an amorphous, ill-defined authority figure — is watching. Eagle Eye starts out that way, but it soon becomes clear that here, Big Brother is doing a whole lot more than just watching.

Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) is a slacker who dropped out of college to bide his time working in a Chicago copy shop. When he finds his bank account with a much higher balance than it should have and his apartment full of suspicious packages, he knows he’s being set up for something — but he can’t figure out what. He starts receiving phone calls from a woman with very specific instructions; she not only seems to see him and know what he is up to, but she is also able to manipulate his environs by doing things like controlling construction equipment, flashing personalized messages on public billboards, and stopping El trains in their tracks.

Meanwhile, single mom Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan) is sending her young, trumpet-playing son on a class trip to Washington, D.C. to perform for a V.I.P. audience. She is soon receiving the same mysterious phone calls with very specific directions, and when she refuses the voice on the phone threatens her son.

Ultimately, the mysterious voice unites Jerry and Rachel on an unknown quest to get to Washington, D.C. to do…something. The twist in the film involves why the two of them were targeted, but in one case it still doesn’t make much sense. The conspiracy theory come to life here is an eerie one, and given the state of technology it even seems plausible. But while it drives the plot along nicely for the first half of the film, the impetus seems to filter out in the second act.

The acting is top-notch, and the action sequences are frequent and appropriately explosive. The concept is neat — an all-seeing, all-knowing entity uses technology to coerce you into acting on its behalf — but all the plot contrivances feel too forced, and the ending is a little too convenient. Eagle Eye is ultimately an entertaining movie that’s been done in by its own complications.

Film is directed by D.J. Caruso and also stars Rosario Dawson (Zoe Perez), Michael Chiklis (Defense Secretary George Callister), Anthony Mackie (Major Bowman), Ethan Embry (Agent Tony Grant) and Billy Bob Thornton (Agent Thomas Morgan).

Grade: B-