Eye in the Sky

It has been quite a while since I've been to the Broadway, my favorite art house theater, so last night I decided to see Eye in the Sky, a film I have been anticipating since it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year. To say that it is intense would be an understatement.  Usually when I say that I was on the edge of my seat it is a metaphor but, during this film, I literally moved to the edge of my seat, balled my hands into fists, and held my breath during a particularly suspenseful scene.  I  may have even yelled, "Hurry!" at the top of my lungs!  Luckily, everyone else in the audience was in a similar state of agitation!  Katharine Powell (the always brilliant Helen Mirren), a general in the British army, has been tracking a British national involved in a terrorist cell for six years.  She receives intelligence about her location, along with two other high profile terrorists including an American, in a safe house in Nairobi and plans a joint operation to arrest her and the other terrorists with the USAF using drones for surveillance.  When the subjects move to a Somali occupied area in Nairobi, the rules of engagement change from a pick up order to a kill order prompting much debate among COBRA, a British intelligence agency comprised of military and political leaders (most notably, Alan Rickman in one of his final roles, and Jeremy Northam, one of my favorite actors).  Using an agent on the ground (with some really cool, yet scary, technology), the team discovers that the terrorists are planning two imminent suicide bombing missions.  This convinces COBRA to authorize dropping the Hellfire missiles on the terrorists.  However, the pilots of the drone discover a little girl who will most certainly be killed as collateral damage prompting more debate.  The film ends during the aftermath of their decision leaving the viewer to  wonder if they made the right one.  This film is highly charged, to say the least, as the various participants try to justify losing one life versus losing many lives as a result of a suicide bomb and multiple perspectives are explored so you are not sure what to think by the time they take action.  The tension builds and builds with incredibly affecting performances, especially Mirren because her character is motivated by personal reasons and she chafes at the inability of the committee to make a decision.  It is a film that will leave you thinking long after you leave the theater and I highly recommend it.