Good Kill

Starring: Ethan Hawke, January Jones, Bruce Greenwood, Zoe Kravitz, Jake Abel, Ross Shaw, Kevin Wiggins
Directed by: Andrew Niccol
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Thriller
2015

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A drone pilot (Ethan Hawke) struggles with the nature of his job and his relationship with his wife (January Jones).

Review:

Tim: Good Kill is a film that is absolutely fascinating for the brain and completely devoid of any emotion for the heart. This is never a recipe for success. There are certainly things to like here, but without an emotional connection, the 1 hour, 42 minute run time feels longer than it is. This is an okay movie, but I went into it with higher expectations.

The parts of the movie I loved were where it explored what it is like for drone pilots living in Las Vegas. They leave their families and houses in the morning and commute to war. There, they are in a little room, completely safe and secure. From there, they pilot drones which rain down death and destruction from above, thousands and thousands of miles away, on the other side of the planet. They clock out, and return home at the end of the day. That has to be a very disjointed, disruptive existence. The movie is at its best when it examines the behind-the-scenes workings of this arm of the military. I was so intrigued to see what drone strikes were like. The film does an incredible job of showcasing this side of our military. I also loved the difficult to watch scenes where you start to question the morality of drone strikes. I'd never really considered it before. As the film progresses and Langley gets involved, you start to truly question how our government operates. While this film is fiction, there is a lot of truth in the questionable military action you see. When you consider the Middle East, the number of drone strikes that occurred there, and the reports of civilian casualties you see, this movie will start to make you a bit sick. I understand the military need for precision strikes and to protect our interests overseas, but you do wonder how much consideration is actually given to human life there. This movie doesn't fully go to one side of the argument- it presents both sides (although it's clear how it wants to make you feel toward the end).

The movie falls down when it tries to depict the emotional toll this work has on the main characters. It's an important part of the movie and is vastly less interesting than the workings of drone pilots. We watch Ethan Hawke as he spirals out of control and none of it is all that interesting. I never felt any emotional connection with his character. When he learn he wants to pilot planes for real, it made him unlikable because it would mean leaving his family. I'm sure I was supposed to care about all that, but none of it really mattered to me. Hawke does a pretty good job in the film, but his character just didn't have much of interest to me. The same can be said about January Jones as his wife. Some of that is because Jones is a ridiculously terrible actress, some of it is due to the weak character she was given. Zoe Kravitz was interesting as a member of the team with a conscience. She was able to generate a bit more of an emotional connection. I don't really like Kravitz that much, but she was fairly solid here. I really liked Bruce Greenwood, who made the best of a poorly constructed character. Writer/Director Andrew Niccol did a great job of showcasing the world of drone pilots and did a horrendous job creating compelling, interesting characters.

When you add all that up, Good Kill has enough going for it that I'd consider it a decent movie. I learned a great deal about drone strikes and was shocked at the callousness of some U.S. government decisions. However, the human scenes fell flat and caused the movie to feel like it was dragging on. I wanted to like this movie, but in the end, it was only tolerable.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6


If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Rendition, The Hurt Locker, Gattaca