CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It's not very often I get the chance to call a movie I see "an important film." But the contemporary war thriller "Eye in the Sky" is exactly that.
"Eye in the Sky" is the fictional account of a drone operation initiated by British forces in London, and executed by American drone pilots in Las Vegas, the target of which is in Nairobi, Kenya.
A female British terrorist is located in Nairobi, where she is meeting with other high-level terrorists from the al Qiada-related group al Shabab. The original plan is to capture everyone at the meeting in question. The drone serves as exactly what the title of the film indicates.
The plane looks down from the air, tracking the movements of the suspected terrorists and passing that information back to London, where military officials and politicians relay the information to Kenyan soldiers hiding nearby, waiting to pounce on the group.
But there are two other drones involved in the operation. Kenyan army authorities are also using a drone the size of a bird just outside the target house to monitor the comings and goings of the terrorists. Another British-backed Kenyan operative has yet one more drone the size of a flying beetle, which he can send into the house and basically attend and record the meeting.
All seems going according to plan for the capture of the terrorists. But then the situation changes, and the narrative takes on a deep and darker hue. It becomes a different movie than one you walked in on.
The far-flung locations of the plot, along with the mind-boggling technology that drone warfare affords, make the story especially compelling. The superb acting by the cast fills the movie with theatrical blood and oxygen, providing realism it might not otherwise have. The brilliant, crosscut editing of what are essentially three movies woven together is frosting on a cake baked in white-knuckle suspense.
Helen Mirren is taught, tense and utterly believable as a British general in charge of the operation. The late Alan Rickman, in what might be his last performance, plays another British military official guiding the complex international effort.
Aaron Paul plays one of the American drone pilots in Las Vegas on whose trigger finger the ultimate conclusion of the movie nervously rests. He, more than anyone else in the cast, gives the movie its heart-racing and heartbreaking pulse.
"Eye in the Sky" operates beautifully on all cylinders. But more than a garden-variety war thriller, it illustrates intricately all the complex issues at play today in the world fight against terrorism.
Another enjoyable aspect of the film is watching the politicians on all sides of the spectrum squirm and pass the buck as they fear the public and political consequences of taking action or playing it safe.
"Eye in the Sky" provokes thought while it entertains. The issues at stake are moral, ethical, emotional and spiritual. The movie hammers each one squarely home.
No easy answers are offered in "Eye in the Sky." But the many questions it begs will remain with you long after you leave the theater.
REVIEW
Eye in the Sky
Who: Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman, Ian Glen, Jeremy Northam and Phoebe Fox. Directed by Gavin Hood. Written by Guy Hibbert.
Rated: R (for violence).
Running time: 102 minutes.
When: Opens Friday.
Where: Area theaters.
Grade: A+
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