Eye in the Sky
EYE IN THE SKYÂ (15)
D: Gavin Hood
Entertainment One/Raindog (Ged Doherty, Colin Firth &
David Lancaster)
UK 🇬🇧 2015 (released 2016)
102 mins
Thriller/War
W: Guy Hibbert
DP: Haris ZambarloukosÂ
Ed: Megan Gill
Mus: Paul Hepker & Mark Kilian
Helen Mirren (Col. Katherine
Powell), Alan Rickman (Lt. Gen. Frank Benson), Aaron Paul (2nd Lt. Steve Watts), Barkhad Abdi (Jama Farah), Jeremy Northam (Brian Woodale), Iain Glen (James Willett), Phoebe
Fox (Carrie Gershon)
There are some who have criticised Eye In The Sky of being
a political propaganda piece to justify the ongoing war on terror in the Middle East, and though some of the events do feel contrived, the film presents a realistic moral and ethical dilemma
which those high up in the chain of military command may potentially face.
A joint British-American surveillance operation in Kenya
confirms a hideout on the outskirts of Nairobi is housing members of a terrorist network, three of which on the most wanted list, who, on further investigation, appear to be stockpiling
weapons and planning an attack.
The conflict which follows afterwards is within the war
room around the globe, where the military powers balance whether or not the chances of collateral damage (signified here by an innocent girl selling bread on the street) don't pose a problem
with a strike on their target.
The complex moral issue is made even more gripping due to
the excellent performances of the cast, particularly Helen Mirren, Alan Rickman & Barkhad Abdi, and most surprisingly by Aaron Paul, with his most serious film role post Breaking
Bad.
Leaving the politics aside, Eye In The Sky is a gripping
thriller which will certainly have you balanced on the edge of your seat.
A posthumous Oscar nomination for Alan Rickman certainly
wouldn't have been pie in the sky. Alas, it wasn't to be.
7/10
