In short – this is one hell of an action packed, white knuckle, thrill ride!

Eagle Eye, D.J. Caruso‘s latest film is the 2nd best film of the year behind The Dark Knight! Yes I know that is a bold statement with the likes of Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Indiana Jones premiering in ’08.

Yes I also know that there will be Watchmen, and The Spirit and others out this year to follow. And I will stand by this film till the end. This movie kicked so much ass!

From the first few minutes of the film, introducing us to Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) and Rachael Holloman (Michelle Monaghan), we see a connection on the big screen. Not necessarily between the two of them but between the viewer and them. You actually start to care for these two strangers very quickly. You want to know what is happening, who their family is and most of all what their story is. Then all of a sudden the ride starts and doesn’t end for another hour and a half. This thrill ride follows two ordinary folks, or so it seems, through a maze of calculated steps to achieve an end goal of extraordinary measures. From FBI mishaps, to the Air Force, to top secret levels in warehouses that don’t exist, we follow these two everywhere.

From the start of the film you get a sense that something big is happening. Bigger than the people we are quickly getting to know more about. Jerry is a normal guy working at “Copy Cabana” and Rachael is a single mom working as a paralegal . With Jerry’s twin brother just dying and Rachael’s son just sent off on a school field trip, they are both very alone in their sad lives.

With a twist of fate the two each receive a phone call from a woman with very explicit instructions to follow. This is when the action becomes so intense I thought my fingers lost circulation from holding onto one another so tight.

The direction from Caruso was great if you ask me. The way the camera moves and the acting by Shia and Michelle made me believe I was part of their crazy thrill ride. The score itself left a little to be desired but at the same time, most folks don’t sit through a movie thinking, do I like the music in this movie?

Overall I would recommend this to almost anyone, short of folks who are stupid enough to bring their young children to any movie. The action is non stop, the intelligence is believable and the world we live in just got creepier.

With lots of oohs and ahhs from the crowd, you can’t expect much more from a sleeper hit. This movie will do well and I promise you will be worth price of admission.

I was able to bring a buddy of mine to the showing who works in the intelligence sector and working with data encryption, way over our heads. His statement at the end of the movie, a big smile and said “That was the best movie I have ever seen”. Take it with a grain of salt, but this should knock your socks off.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ 

These days, when it comes to political thrillers, audiences seem to be a little wary, mainly because they don’t want to sit through a lecture about our nation’s political system.  That’s probably why a film like last year’s “Rendition”, which I consider to be one of 2007′s best films, didn’t fare too well at the box office.  The new thriller “Traitor”, an overall effective film, may fall victim to the same problem seeing as it deals directly with issues that the average movie going audience most likely won’t want to hear about.  However, I’d still say go see it because even though it may be a relatively predictable film, there’s no denying that it was made with solid skill.

The traitor that the title refers to is Samir Horn (Don Cheadle), a black man with a partial Sudanese background who decided to become an undercover Special Op for the United States after, as a young boy, he watched his father die in a car bombing.  One of Samir’s best abilities as a U.S. operative is how he can infiltrate a terrorist network and convince them that he’s on their side.  When we first meet Samir, he’s selling a group of terrorists some weapons, but all of a sudden, the FBI bursts in, arrests everyone and sends them all to a terrorist prison.  After a brief stint in jail and a daring escape, Samir enters another terrorist cell that’s planning an elaborate scheme which involves thirty different suicide bombers.  However, conflict arises when the FBI begins to hunt down Samir, because he’s the only suspect they know of, and at the same time we learn that Samir may be a plant by the CIA, who are using him to take down that same terrorist cell.

The main reason to see “Traitor” is Don Cheadle.  He’s such a good actor, and he’s able to excel above some pretty standard material.  The character of Samir horn is someone who’s pretty open about religion and he’s also internally conflicted about his position.  The screenplay does a good job of exploring the moral questions that operating on both sides can entail, especially considering it’s set during the present time, but it’s Cheadle who effectively shows the weariness and scattered bursts of frustration that a man in his position would experience.  Plus, Cheadle never turns Samir into a full-on action hero, just like how the filmmakers never turn “Traitor” into a full-on action film.  It does have the same realistic tone and style of the “Bourne” movies, but it’s more action-oriented sections are more spaced out, but that’s not particularly a bad thing.  I like the fact that “Traitor” is more about how the system works when it comes to terrorism, rather than just the acts of terrorism by themselves.

In addition to Don Cheadle, there are some other good actors on display here.  Guy Pierce, who was in one of my favorite films of all-time, “Memento”, plays Roy Clayton, the FBI agent spearheading the team pursuing Samir.  Yes, the role of the straight-arrow FBI agent is one that’s pretty much been done to death, but given how good of an actor Pierce is, he keeps his character interesting enough all the way through, and the same goes for his partner played by Neal McDonough.  Jeff Daniels is also in the film, playing the top CIA brass who is the only person who knows about Samir’s inside operation, and unfortunately, Daniels is criminally underused.  But he’s still good with what little screen time he does have.

Now, I understand filmmakers putting the war on terror in the spotlight when it comes to stories such as these, but in my opinion, it’s starting to wear a little thin.  The issue worked as the main idea of a film such as “Rendition”, but even though I loved that film, I still thought that showing the issue full-on got a little tiresome after a while.  The majority of “Traitor” takes place in the foreign “conflict countries”, I guess you could call them, but I have to say that I could do without some of these movies for a while.  How about taking a break from these foreign political thrillers and making some that stay in the U.S., huh, Hollywood?

But in the end, “Traitor” is nonetheless a well-made film with some solid performances and good suspense.  It ain’t no “Jason Bourne”, but I’d still recommend it.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ 

Alright ladies (and some of you guys) time to brace yourselves and pretend you’re not melting in your seat. Variety is reporting that Christian Bale is in negotiations to star opposite Johnny Depp in Michal Mann (Heat) helmed “Public Enemies”. Johnny is already signed to play the infamous bank robber John Dillinger, and Christian Bale should be playing the FBI Agent that hunted Dillinger down, Melvin Purvis. Production is scheduled to begin in March at Universal.

I don’t know about you, but two of Hollywood’s biggest stars, and best action-heroes in a gangster movie directed by the guy that gave us “HEAT” sounds pretty goddamn awesome. And I gotta say, Depp isn’t a bad likeness for JD