Eye in the Sky

Eye in the Sky

Starring Helen Mirren, Alan Rickman, Aaron Paul, Barkhad Abdi

Directed by Gavin Hood

The Story:
The terrorist group Al-Shabaab is highly active in East Africa, and word reaches British Colonel Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren) that three of the most wanted terrorist leaders have taken refuge in a safe house in Nairobi, Kenya.  She orders an "eye in the sky" assignment - having a military drone hover over the building in order to gain Intel and capture - from USAR drone pilot Steve Watts (Aaron Paul), who is stationed in Las Vegas.

At first the assignment is to just engage the situation as a capture, but when word reaches them that there's three of the most wanted terrorists in the building, Powell wants to make it a targeted assassination.  Word reaches Lieutenant General Frank Benson (Alan Rickman), who is in a room with other British politicians.  After a lengthy debate over the legal and political implications of the strike, it's finally authorized.  However, before it could be carried out, Watts witnesses a young girl selling bread in front of the building, which raises concerns for the girl's health.  Ultimately, the situation becomes one with serious legal, political, and life-altering decisions that asks very existential questions with no easy answers.

The Synopsis:
I am a big fan of "what if" scenarios and existential questions such as "if there's a virus that will kill one thousand people, and the cure is found in one person, but in order to extract that cure the person has to die, would you kill him?"  For most this might not be a difficult question to answer, but for others it might be.  That's at the heart of South African director Gavin Hood's "Eye in the Sky."

Here, the big question is: "is it worth possibly killing a little girl in order to save hundreds or many thousands of people?"  The terrorists in question are preparing a suicide bombing somewhere, and they're getting ready to strike as we look on.  Meanwhile, outside the main blast radius, there's an innocent girl selling bread.  Is it worth risking her life to stop possibly hundreds of deaths?

More importantly, there's another question that could be raised here: if they perform the strike and the little girl dies, who is really responsible?  Those who sent the missile in order to save hundreds, or those who planned on killing hundreds who happen to be holed up in a building so close to the girl?  Sometimes we tend to blame those who are trying to protect people rather than those who cause the problem in the first place.  It's an interesting premise to think about.

The film tackles this important issue by showing what would happen through the eyes of British intelligence (probably because if it was American, there would be no question: bomb the heck out of them.  Just ask any of the Americans portrayed in the film).  Here, the issues go beyond the life of the little girl, but also a geopolitical issue arises: Kenya is a friendly country, and two of the terrorists are natural-born Brits.  In real life, American officials had no quarrels about sending a drone strike on American-born cleric terrorist Anwar-al-Awlaki, and although it raised some concerns about Americans taking out another American without due process, in the end it undoubtedly saved countless lives.

Here, British intelligence come across as a bunch of sniveling cowards who want to keep passing the buck to someone in higher authority.  As the window of opportunity slowly closes, they keep referring to someone in higher office for their approval, mostly because they worry about the public relations nightmare of saying they had to kill a little girl to stop a group of terrorists. 

While the film doesn't have a lot of action (the little it had was done by Kenyan undercover agent Jama Farah, played by Oscar-nominee Barkhad Abdi), it still keeps you riveted on the edge of your seat as the clock keeps ticking, and tensions rise among everyone involved.  Aaron Paul's character has flown drones before, but never used its Hellfire missiles.  He's the most conflicted personally about possibly injuring the little girl.  Alan Rickman's Frank Benson wants the strike to happen, but he's surrounded by puttering politicians who are more concerned with how the situation would look to the public, and Powell is steely as ever, wanting to stop the terrorists at any cost. 

Helen Mirren delivers another amazing performance, as does Aaron Paul, but the standout performance is by the late, great Alan Rickman in his last live-action movie role before his untimely death from pancreatic cancer (the film is dedicated to his memory).  His natural wit, sophistication and dry humor are seen in abundance here (his opening scene is him trying to find a doll for his daughter, asking his wife on the phone about a certain doll he's holding that cries when its ready to go to sleep).  Then, at the end of the movie, he delivers his most important line - and fittingly one of his most powerful in any film he's starred in: "Never tell a soldier that he does not know the cost of war."  Truly a fitting way for such an iconic actor to go out on in his last live-action movie, and proof that his indelible spirit and talent will be sorely missed and never duplicated.

The Summary:
"Eye in the Sky" is a timely film about the social, political and practical ramifications of modern warfare and how one decision can potentially save hundreds, but possibly kill one innocent. 

The Score: A