Shia LaBeouf stars in this action thriller from director D.J. Caruso. LaBeouf stars as a copy shop worker Jerry Shaw he's low income behind on his rent and generally on the bottom rung of society. He checks his bank one day to discover 750k dollars has been deposited in his bank account, when he gets home he finds his apartment full of weapons, manuals for f16's, and large drums of fertiliser. Rather than do the sensible thing and run like hell he proceeds to fondle all the equipment. While he's putting his fingerprints on everything his phone rings and a woman's voice tells him the FBI is on the way and he has 30 seconds to leave.
The film the follows him as he is controlled by someone who is always watching and manipulating to achieve some unknown ends. In it with him is a young single mother Rachel Holloman played by Michelle Monaghan the same people are threatening and controlling her.
Jerry and Rachel then get pulled along by these unseen nefarious forces as they are pursued by law enforcement and the military and try and find out who is doing this to them and why.
This is an excellent thriller action film with plenty of stunts and action scenes. The cast is good and the drama moves the story along nicely. LaBeouf is good as Jerry Shaw a guy who was coasting through life suddenly fighting to survive. Monaghan is good, similarly motivated thrown into a situation against her will. The supporting cast is also good with Bill Bob Thornton as Agent Thomas Morgan the FBI agent in charge of finding and stopping Jerry. Rosario Dawson is also good as an air force investigator Zoe Perez.
The characters are believable and interesting there are hardly any that are there for filler they are all interesting and the cast is good enough to fill the roles out. The driving force behind the film and the subtle menace in its premise and the underlying patriot act surveillance society themes are very appropriate to now and it makes the resolution of the film more satisfying.
The only criticism I might have is the over use of very close up camera angles during action and some of the scenes it made it a little tough to follow the action, it was made worse by our sitting a little close to the screen. This kind of camera work seems to be becoming more common in films and I think personally it doesn't add anything and indeed makes the action tougher to appreciate so I wish they would give it a bit of room.
Anyway this is a good action film with some nice if fairly obvious twists and it makes great use of the current climate to set its scene. It makes me wonder a little how it will date but still for now it's fine. The performances are good and they drive the story on with some excellent action set pieces to keep you interested. Recommended viewing.