Eye in the Sky

Starring: Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman, Gavin Hood, Jeremy Northam, Barkhad Abdi, Iain Glen, Jessica Jones, Daniel Fox, Michael O'Keefe
Directed by: Gavin Hood
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Thriller, War
2016

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A military officer (Helen Mirren) battles competing interests, different opinions, and political landmines as she tries to operate a drone strike on suspected terrorists.

Review:

Tim: I suspect we'll continue to get movies like Eye in the Sky for the foreseeable future. The idea of using drones to kill targets half the world away, operating with less than total information is a ripe one for dramatic exploration. We got a very similar movie last year with Good Kill, and where that movie stumbled, this one succeeds. This is the far better drone-warefare-contemplation movie. This is a fascinating, intense look at a part of the military most people don't fully understand or think about. It's an exciting, engrossing movie.

The big thing I'm walking away from this movie with is a deeper understanding of the immense paperwork and governmental approval channels that something like this goes through. To order a strike in a joint country operation like this involves dozens of people. It's not a simple case of an order coming down and the order being executed. The movie spends considerable time exploring the labyrinthine process that it sometimes takes during a military engagement like this one. The movie uses this to its advantage, as the ticking clock is always on our minds. The story was exceptionally well done, as we see all the changes, revisions, reexaminations, and decisions that need to take place immediately. The question of, "Should we use this drone to kill a suicide bomber before they strike?" seems like an easy question. Eye in the Sky spends its 1 hour, 42 minute run time exploring how that question is significantly more complex and ambiguous than we would expect. That makes for fascinating viewing.

The cast is strong. Helen Mirren is in the lead role and does a good job playing the hardened military officer. I loved that she wasn't necessarily the hero of this piece. Her character lives in the gray and we have to toggle a bit back-and-forth on what we think of her. She embraced that ambiguity and didn't play the role with any desire to be "liked". It's a strong, intelligent performance. I loved seeing Aaron Paul here- after "Breaking Bad", I'll always be a fan of his. His presence was welcome, but I wish he had more to do. He was underutilized. The always excellent Alan Rickman was a great addition to the cast. While he spends most of the movie sitting and watching a screen, he brought charisma and believability to everything he did. The movie was better because of him. It was also fun to see Barkhad Abdi in a smaller, but important role. Really, the entire cast was strong.

Gavin Hood directs a tight, constantly moving film. It's engrossing and intense and the movie flies by because you're so interested in seeing what will happen. It explores some complicated, ambiguous issues and presents both sides fairly well. This is the kind of movie that will entertain you, but also make you think. You leave the film a little disoriented, processing what you saw and not entirely sure how you feel about it. Eye in the Sky doesn't deliver the punch it needed to be considered a great movie, but it gets awfully close. This is an entertaining, memorable movie that addresses a timely issue. I enjoyed the experience of watching it and it's not a film I will forget any time soon.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Good Kill