Eagle Eye - Preview & US reaction
Preview by Jack Foley
IT’S hard to believe but a little over 12 months ago the name Shia LaBeouf was barely registering on the movie going public’s radar. Sleeper hit Disturbia helped to rectify that, and then Transformers and Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull saw him explode.
Suddenly, Shia LaBeouf was one of Hollywood’s hottest properties… and deservedly so. The boy can act. Now, looking to cement his position among the A-list, LaBeouf reunites with Disturbia creator DJ Caruso for Eagle Eye, a fast-paced thriller that looks set to open big in America (over the September 26-29 weekend, 2008).
The film finds LaBeouf playing Jerry Shaw who, together with Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan), are two strangers thrown together by a mysterious phone call from a woman they have never met.
Threatening their lives and family, she pushes Jerry and Rachel into a series of increasingly dangerous situations – using the technology of everyday life to track and control their every move.
As the situation escalates, these two ordinary people become the country’s most wanted fugitives, who must work together to discover what is really happening – and more importantly, why.
The story for Eagle Eye was conceived by Steven Spielberg 12 years ago, but has gestated ever since until a time when Caruso felt technology had caught up to make it sound plausible.
“Everybody has a BlackBerry or an iPhone on their belt, and we think we’re constantly being tracked. It’s less science fiction than it was when Steven conceived it,” he told US magazine Entertainment Weekly.
The result is a gritty, high-tec thriller that aims to bring a 1970s-era sensibility into a 21st-century setting. And advance word – or rather, the spectacular trailer – suggests the makers have succeeded in doing just that. The film looks set to become another thrill-ride, with a support cast that includes Rosario Dawson and Billy Bob Thornton.
US reaction
US critics were divided over the merits of Eagle Eye, however, with most reckoning the suspension of disbelief still required is simply too great.
The Washington Post, for instance, wrote that “Eagle Eye, with a more nuanced idea of paranoia and the ills of technology gone wild, could have been both entertaining and disturbing. Deafening isn’t quite the same thing”.
While The Chicago Tribune felt that “for all its digitally effected chaos, the cinematic threat level in Eagle Eye never even comes close to orange”.
And USA Today wrote: “Though it aspires to be an intriguing political cautionary tale, the movie is mostly about the feverish and jarringly choreographed chase scenes.”
The Hollywood Reporter, meanwhile, wrote: “As tightly coiled as a Slinky, and for all their running around, LaBeouf and the normally engaging Monaghan are stuck with characters who aren’t particularly lively and, more problematic, fail to spark the requisite chemistry.”
Variety, too, erred towards the negative, stating: “The pic’s first 35 minutes sizzle until a Byzantine plot nudges the story toward near-parody in the final act.”
But there were positives. Newsday urged viewers to “check your credulity at the door, and you’ll at least enjoy some high-impact action scenes”, while the *Seattle Post-Intelligencer” said that “[Director Caruso] has done a masterful job of maintaining suspense, keeping the stunts mind-blowing and dressing the visuals in the bleak hues and gritty style of a ’70s paranoid thriller”.
The San Francisco Chronicle was also a fan, stating: “The movie doesn’t have three brain cells to rub together, but the premise carries it a long way.”
While the UK’s Empire magazine awarded it 4 stars and concluded: “A fun techno romp, mixing bang for your buck with insights into the dangers of restricting civil liberties.”
Eagle Eye opens in UK cinemas on October 17, 2008.