Eagle Eye...

Eagle Eye is not one of the worst movies you'll see. One of the most improbable? Yes. One that bears very strong resemblance to Enemy of the State? Yep. It even uses that exact term, twice. One that doesn't have the slightest idea how a computer works? You betcha. But is it any good?

Let's not talk in terms of good or bad with this one.

Like Enemy of the State, it asks you to be very paranoid and to suspend your disbelief. Other films with that premise are ones like Arlington Road. Terrorists, government, yada yada yada. The point isn't those things. The point is to enjoy the ride. This movie is a ride. I've heard it described as a two hour chase film. It's a little more substantial than that, but not by much.

Jerry Shaw is a copy jockey at Copy Cabana. Rachel Holloman is a paralegal with a dead beat ex-husband and an adorable son who's good with the trumpet. Jerry also has a twin brother who recently died in a car crash. Jerry's brother, Ethan, was in the Air Force. After Ethan's funeral, Jerry returns home and finds a whole mess of guns and bombs in his little apartment. His phone rings and a female voice tells him he's been "activated" and to get out before the FBI arrives in 90 seconds. He doesn't. They do. Soon, he's being interrogated by Billy Bob Thorton.

Rachel gets a call on her cell phone telling her to drive a car to a train station.

One thing leads to another and Jerry ends up in the same car with Rachel.

The chase, as they say, is on.

That's really all you need to know to get you in the theater (or DVD...which I would recommend). It has some more plot to it, but I'll let you watch it unfold. Like I said, it's a fun ride.

However, the degree to which I was asked to suspend my disbelief was almost disproportional to how much pay off I got from it. Unlike the Matrix or Dark City, this places real people in real places where these things couldn't really happen. It wants to be Die Hard with a sci-fi twist. But it forgets itself. It has a few good run-and-gun scenes then dips into computers-run-everything without a solid bridge between the two.

Does this detract from my enjoyment of the film? No, surprisingly it didn't. I don't know how, but it didn't. I had fun watching it. The acting was fair, the cinematography was good (relatively inspired with some shots). It's a couch and popcorn movie. Good for a rainy day.