The previews looked good, and it starred Helen Mirren, a household favorite, so we checked out Eye in the Sky last weekend. Highly recommended. It’s about a covert operation in Kenya where a group of terrorists, including an American and a woman from England, are convening. UK military and intelligence want to capture the woman and take her back to England, so they have operatives on the ground and an American piloted drone in the sky. Circumstances change, causing the various entities to debate launching a Hellfire missile at the compound.
Besides the physical location in Kenya (actually South Africa), there are three distinct silos. Mirren is orchestrating everything from her command bunker. Alan Rickman (in his final role) is acting as military liaison with the British politicians who can decide whether certain things are legal or justifiable. And Aaron Paul and Phoebe Fox are in a silo of their own, piloting the drone, analyzing its feedback and targeting the missiles.
The movie is all about collateral damage and risk assessment. How much is allowable given the intelligence on the ground? Barkhad Abdi from Captain Thomas has some high-tech gadgetry to surveil the compound, but is in a tenuous position. Not since Les Miserables has so much importance rested on loaves of bread. One would like to hope that the same amount of soul-searching goes on before every strike of this type. I was interested and amused to see the way the two different groups were depicted. The British debated and delayed, passing the buck up the chain of command, unwilling to pull the trigger, whereas the Americans consulted at various points had no compunction about authorizing a strike, almost regardless of the collateral damage. It’s a taut thriller that will leave you with plenty to talk about once its over.
Only one episode of Better Call Saul left, and whoa, are things ever getting intense. The series could equally be called Don’t Mess with Mike. Or Kim, for that matter, as she got one of the series’ best scenes when she confronted Chuck. Rhea Seehorn isn’t a showy actress, but you can always tell there’s a lot going on in her head all the time. There was also a moment early in the episode when Bob Odenkirk almost looked straight into the camera. It was quite disconcerting.
I’m into episode three of The Path, still not quite sure where it’s going to go. I’m intrigued but not 100% hooked.
