Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Eagle Eye

Since my genius idea of doing two separate reviews for each movie resulted in my first-ever ZERO COMMENTS on a post, I'm back to doing one. This review will have no major spoilers.
Please, feel free to read. And comment.


Let it be known that Eagle Eye is a guy flick in every sense of the term. And this chick liked it. It helped that I went into it expecting nothing more than a brainless, big-budget action movie with lots (and lots) of car chases, people running for their lives, and things being blown up. Don't get me wrong--it was all of those things, minus the mindless part. I was not prepared to have to think during this movie, but think I did.

So Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) is a highly unmotivated nobody mourning the sudden loss of his twin brother when he receives a phone call from some random female voice spouting out commands that he neither understands nor wants to listen to. He quickly learns that if he doesn't obey the monotonous voice, bad things will happen.

Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan) is a single mother who receives a similar phone call from the same voice after shipping her son off to a band performance for the weekend. Once she is informed her son's life depends on her cooperation, she's running around like a mad woman, doing whatever the voice tells her to do. Soon she and Jerry are thrown together in a run for their lives.

The movie hooked me right at the beginning by first painting an intriguing picture of Jerry's depressing life before launching into the game of cat and mouse. I was quickly theorizing about Jerry and his brother and government conspiracies and musical instruments and terrorism. Shia LaBeouf is always a joy, although I can only focus on his bottom lip whenever he talks--why is it always covered in saliva? Michelle Monaghan is cute and does an adequate job of running around terrified, but _____________ could have done it just as well. (Fill in the blank with the name of any current actress.)

My only complaint was the use of the "sh" word. (Why do I always feel 10 years old when I call it that?) Good heck, it had to be some kind of record. Now, I have to admit that if a giant metal beam was coming at me, ready to decapitate me, I might drop an "sh" bomb myself. I guess it was probably realistic that in a constant adrenaline-pumping fight for life, they felt the need to swear a few times. But it doesn't mean I wanted to hear it. Again. And again. And again.

Okay, that was a lie. I did have one more complaint. I thought the end was a little hokey. I can't tell you why, though, because that would be a spoiler, and I wouldn't want to give anyone cause to NOT comment on this review. But I can tell you that my husband didn't think it was hokey; in fact, he loved just about every aspect of this movie, and since he is exactly the demographic they were shooting for, I guess that's what matters.

So make your husband happy--take him to see this, he'll love you forever. And you might not hate it yourself. But you don't have to tell him that.

13 comments:

MichelleB said...

Thanks for the review. I may go see it all by myself tomorrow night!!! I love movies like this and I already knew it would be good considering the weird dream you had.

Melissa Mae Johnson said...

I'm so glad you liked this movie, because I REALLY want to see it. I've loved Shia Labouf since his days on the Disney Channel

AOlson said...

I really enjoy reading your reviews. Drop an "sh" bomb? That was my favorite line in your review, I agree when I hear swearing it's like nails on a chalkboard to me. I will definately take my husband to see this. Thanks!

Rachel said...

Alicia, I love your reviews and I think that Chad has mentioned that he wanted to see it. Thanks to your review, I will now be a better wife and not even complain or suggest guys that might want to go with him to see it. I will happily go and plug my ears during the sh parts. Thanks for your entertaining reviews...I always enjoy reading them.

andrea said...

I'm so glad to hear a good review of this movie! I am so going to see it. Except I will probably now spend the whole movie watching for saliva on Shia's lip.

Shayla said...

***Some spoilers in this comment***

I LOVED this movie! No, really. It was MY idea to go see this one last week with the hubby and we were both not disappointed. I think Shia is one of my favorite actors right now. I agree, the swearing was my one complaint. It went just a little too far for me, too. I was so happy with the ending, although, it did have a bit of a hokey-spin on it. I was just so relieved they weren't going to kill off all the main characters, for a second there I thought they might and I HATE when they ruin a perfectly good movie by making the main character a martyr. :-) Okay, sometimes it works, but I didn't want it in this one. It helps that Nate and I are both into the cool sci-fi, futuristic technology stuff, too.

dandee said...

Ryan will love this movie!

[M] said...

I had never even heard of this movie. J-P would like it...

Noelle said...

oh yeah, i'll have to get this from the redbox for sure. but i'm not sure i want the nightmares that came along with it for you, for me. maybe i'll take the safe route and read a book while i 'watch' the movie. abe hates it when i do that.

Alicia said...

I just want to make it clear this movie didn't give me nightmares. I have incredibly vivid dreams every night--thank you, Effexor--and this one wasn't a nightmare, by any means. I called my post that tongue-in-cheek...because if that happened in real life, it would be a complete nightmare. But believe me, compared to the actual nightmares I have, my Twilight one was nothing.

michellemybelle said...

I loved this movie.

meohmyers said...

I have to say, I saw this movie and thought it was okay. I'm afraid I lowered your expectations with my "eh" attitude about it. I totally noticed the saliva on Shia's lower lip the whole movie before you even said anything! So funny. I was impressed with his crying at the casket though. The action scenes were packed - Jeff loved that! It was just all right for me. Love your reviews, as usual!

Jodi said...

I guess this is a movie Mick and I should check out. I like Shia, but I agree - he does seem to have a lot of saliva going on.