Movie: Eye in the Sky

Eye in the Sky: an excellent thriller addressing serious ethical questions about war.  The plot line is simple: British military has located two Al-Shabaab extremists who are meeting in a safe house in Kenya.  The original plan is to capture the terrorists.  However, before the plan can be executed, the two individuals, one British and the other American, move to a second, more secure compound.  With information gleaned from drone surveillance, the “eye in the sky”, the military learns the terrorist are planning a suicide bombing mission.  At this point, the military’s mission changes from capture to kill, but they must first obtain authorization for the new mission.  During this 102 minute film, the issue of collateral damage is fully explored.  Helen Mirren, in another Oscar worthy performance, plays British military intelligence officer, Colonel Katherine Powell, who is advocating for the strike.  She reports to Lt. General Frank Benson, played by Alan Rickman in his final movie role; Rickman died of pancreatic cancer in January 2016.  Rickman is excellent.  Lt. General Benson is in a room with the British Attorney General, a British foreign secretary and others who have the authority to authorize the strike.  Initially the authorization is given, however, a young girl enters the strike zone to sell bread.  The drone pilot, played by Aaron Paul, who is located in Las Vegas, insists on obtaining new authorization before he will release the bomb.  At this point, the film gets really interesting as the authorization requests travel up the administrative chain on both the American and British sides.  The screenplay by Guy Hibbert is excellent and the dialogue concerning collateral damage is realistic.  The actors are outstanding, even those in more minor roles such as the Somali undercover agent played by Barkhard Abdi, who is operating a drone inside the compound area.  The film is directed by Gavin Hood.   Most military thrillers are all about the action.  This film focuses on technology and the ethical issues which arise from the plethora of information made available through the new technology.  Most importantly, the film addresses the conundrum of the value of a single life when the consequences of saving that particular life will most probably result in the death of multiple others.  Further, the film speaks to the belief that a drone pilot is conscious of his role in a real life operation and is fully aware that he is not simply playing a sophisticated computer game.  The adage spoken by Rickman at the end of the movie, “never tell a soldier that he does not know the cost of war,” is driven succinctly home.  I highly recommend this film.