Eagle Eye **

Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Rosario Dawson, Michael Chiklis, Billy Bob Thornton
Director: D.J. Caruso
Running Length: 1:58
MPAA Classification: PG-13

Jerry Shaw (LaBeouf) is a Stanford drop-out who isn’t living up to his full potential. He makes money working at a copy store and playing cards. One day he discovers $750,000 ion his bank account, and returns to his apartment to find it filled with illegal weapons. A phone call warns him that he will be arrested if he doesn’t get out of there ASAP. Rachel Holloman (Monaghan) is hanging out with her girlfriends when she receives a call that her son’s life is in danger if she doesn’t do as she is told. The instructions bring her face to face with Jerry, and together they must follow the instructions if they are to ever return to a normal life.

“Eagle Eye” is less interesting than it initially seems. Once you find out who is pulling Jerry and Rachel’s strings, the movie loses any originality. This movie has been done before, and better. Also, given what this mystery entity can do, you would think a more straightforward plan would be the logical choice. Jerry and Rachel really aren’t needed at all. There are plenty of loud action scenes to distract the viewer from all this, but even they venture a bit over the top. I cannot really recommend “Eagle Eye”, and have to admit to being disappointed by it.

Made of Honor *1/2
Cast: Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan, Kevin McKidd, Kadeem Hardison, Busy Philipps, Kathleen Quinlan, Sydney Pollack
Director: Paul Weiland
Running Length: 1:41
MPAA Classification: PG-13

Tom (Dempsey) and Hannah (Monaghan) meet during their senior year in college. At first, she is put off by him, but soon they become best friends in a completely platonic relationship. Tom is a player, and is with a different woman every night. He even has rules for dealing with the revolving door of women in his life. With Hannah, he has companionship and someone to talk to. It is a good life for him until Hannah goes on a six-week business trip to Scotland. While she is gone, Tom realizes that he loves her, and plans to ask her to marry him upon her return. Unfortunately for him, Hannah returns engaged to Colin (McKidd), who is just about perfect. Hannah asks Tom to be her Maid of Honor, and he agrees seeing it as an opportunity to drive a wedge between her and Colin.

“Made of Honor” is an unimpressive romantic comedy that is pretty cookie cutter. There is nothing here to set it apart from any other romantic comedy. Dempsey and Monaghan are uninspired leads with little chemestry, and Dempsey’s Tom is an ass. McKidd’s Colin is so perfect, one cannot help but hope that Tom fails to win Hannah over. Stay away from this stinker.

Gone Baby Gone ****
Cast: Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, John Ashton, Amy Ryan, Amy Madigan, Titus Welliver, Madeline O'Brien, Edi Gathegi
Director: Ben Affleck
Running Length: 1:55
MPAA Classification: R

Private investigators Patrick Kenzie (Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Monaghan) are approached by Lionel (Welliver) and Beatrice McCready (Madigan) to look for their niece, Amanda (O’Brien), who has gone missing. They fear the police won’t be able to devote enough time towards the investigation and think Patrick and Angie would be a great help. Opposed to their help are the girl’s mother, Helene (Ryan); the police chief Jack Doyle (Freeman); and the two cops working the case, Remy Bressant (Harris) and Nick Poole (Ashton). They quickly discover some overlooked clues that put them in harm’s way as well as put them in the position of having to make some morally ambiguous decisions.

“Gone Baby Gone” is a mystery/thriller that is full of twists and turns. They can be figured out beforehand if one pays attention thanks to this well written and executed script. Solid performances all around compliment Ben Affleck’s first outing in the director’s chair. Like “Mystic River” before it (it was also based upon a novel by Dennis Lehane), the film doesn’t offer any easy answers. It forced the audience to decide for themselves if the right thing is done by the characters. This is a solid, top-notch film, and a definite contender for Best Picture when the Oscars come around. I highly recommend this film.

Mission: Impossible III ***1/2

Cast: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudip, Michelle Monaghan, Laurence Fishburne, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Maggie Q, Simon Pegg
Director: J.J. Abrams
Running Length: 2:08
MPAA Classification: PG-13

When Owen Davian (Hoffman) captures an IMF agent (Russell) who is investigating him, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) comes out of field-retirement to rescue her. This involves some deception on the home front, as his fiancée Julia (Monaghan) does not know what he does for a living. Ethan’s old teammate Luther (Rhames) is back to help him along with Declan (Meyers) and Zhen (Q). Their somewhat successful rescue of the agent reveals that there may be a spy in the leadership of the IMF. To find that spy, they attempt to capture Davian while he is at the Vatican attending a function. Ethan quickly finds out that a job with the IMF is not very contusive to a healthy normal life.

This time around, the “Mission: Impossible” franchise is in the hands of J. J. Abrams, well known for his television shows (Felicity, Lost, Alias), but a rookie when it comes to directing movies. Abrams is up to the challenge, delivering the best M:I movie yet. Filled with the tricks “Alias” fans will recognize from TV, Abrams keeps the movie rolling from action sequence to action sequence, ratcheting up the tension until the showdown between Cruise’s Hunt and Hoffman’s Davian. And Hoffman IS the standout here. Davian is an evil, nasty man who does not make idle threats. Hoffman sinks his teeth into the role, playing his first real bad guy. This movie is worth seeing for him alone. Cruise is good as well. It is a shame that this movie will suffer from his off-screen antics.

This is the first big budget movie of the summer. It is a great popcorn movie that will not disappoint. I highly recommend this film.