Honestly, it continues to amaze me (and many other film lovers) that directors and editors choose to release work that is primarily an aural experience. Why waste the (estimated) $105mil producing a screen experience that would be just as easily followed with only an audio track? Typical for modern films of this nature, the action scenes are filled with shaky handheld cinematography and rapid cuts that mean there often isn’t a single well-framed shot in the whole sequence (and if there is it lasts about a nanosecond before being replaced by one that isn’t). The usual arguments about building tension and audience immersion just won’t wash.

Barely in frame for much of the film are its two leads – Shia LaBeouf as the unambitious Jerry Shaw and Michelle Monaghan as single mum Rachel Holloman. When Jerry finds $751,000 in his bank account and then gets home to discover weapons and bomb-making materials throughout his apartment, you just know he is being set up for something big. Rachel has different problems with an anonymous caller threatening her son and blackmailing her to steal a car. Their paths will intersect as their lives are controlled by the mysterious woman on the phone and they discover they are part of a major conspiracy that will threaten the national security of the United States.

Both LaBeouf and Monaghan are excellent as the bewildered but determined Jerry and Rachel, and they are supported by a stellar cast including Billy Bob Thornton and Rosario Dawson who both shine in fairly archetypal roles. Thornton is especially well suited to his grizzled but highly motivated Homeland Security agent Thomas Morgan. Julianne Moore’s voice carries just the right tones of control and menace as the disembodied conductor of events.

Caruso manipulates story threads into a finale that invokes a strong sense of tension, and in this regard Eagle Eye is one of the better thrillers in recent years. His characters come together in believable ways, and their responses to the decisions they face – one or two slightly illogical moments aside – are completely understandable; something that can’t be said for many less competent productions.

Were it not for the fact that the action sequences are visually unintelligible, Eagle Eye may well have rated very highly indeed for its smart approach and strong performances. It cannot be strongly recommended, however, as a result of the incredibly silly choices made in pre- and post-production that consign the film to handheld hell.

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Agents Jennifer Marsh (Diane Lane) and Griffin Dowd (Colin Hanks) are FBI agents working in the cybercrime division, tasked with tracking down online predators, hackers and scammers that prey on America’s innocent. When they are tipped off to a new website that features a live video feed of a kitten being killed they are hopeful nothing more serious will come of it, but the progression from feline to human victims is terrifyingly swift. The victims are tortured in various ways, with the speed of their demise linked to a hitcounter for the website, such that the killer can proclaim that anyone viewing is accessory to murder.

For once, the writers get much of the technology and language of this world correct – more accurately, the use of terminology and the interaction between the online and real worlds are plausible, if not actually likely. Several improbabilities remain, but for the most part the writers are spot on and the actors don’t sound ridiculous using terms best known to geeks. This is no mean feat given the terrible portrayal of cybercrime in most films of the genre, and it at least gives hope that the setting is more than merely a gimmick.

That plausibility is its greatest asset is somewhat disappointing, as the mechanics of the thriller are often neglected and the performances fairly dull. Several of the characters are nothing more imaginative than archetypes, and are often left underdeveloped. Lane is reasonable in the lead, although must bear the usual ‘what on earth would she do that for?’ moments that plague thrillers and horror movies. Around her, Hanks seems to have perfected the innocuous everyman, and Billy Burke underplays his Detective Box to such an extent he is almost forgotten.

Untraceable attempts to carry off a meaningful exploration of the disconnection of online and real world values as well as a discussion of the prevalence of voyeurism, and succeeds at neither. The film often veers into the realms of ‘torture porn’ while trying to make comment on our interest in such material, and this is more than a little dishonest. Perhaps if the idea that everyone who watched was partially responsible had been further developed the film would have been more interesting, but in its latter stages it degenerates into standard thriller fare.

Untraceable does manage to generate a degree of tension, although its effect is far less than it could have been and may be overwhelmed by the audience’s distaste for some of what is presented onscreen. Wait for dvd.

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