one and a half stars

Reviewed by Daniel E. Jennis

Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf), a down on his luck youth lacking in ambition and cash, receives a telephone call from a stranger who informs him that he must follow a series of complex instructions if he wants to survive. Jerry is forced to steal covert items, evade federal capture, and reactivate a national defense program among other absurd things. He is paired with single mom Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan), who is also being harassed by the mysterious caller.

The two must band together to figure out who is coercing them, and why they are being told to destroy the government from within. When the unidentifiable voice begins to threaten the family and friends of our heroes, the stakes rise to a tipping point.

This is supposed to be a political film, one that warns of the dangers of violating liberty in the name of national security. Since the supposed motivation behind the coercive force involves a highly utilitarian attempt to restore social order via political violence and the destruction of privacy rights, the filmmakers want the audience to question liberty-limiting government policies.

But this is such a stupid way to advocate this message. Violations of civil liberties are insidious and add-up; the danger lies in the fact that privacy-violating laws are hard to detect and are often justified on the grounds that they only constitute a minor nuisance. However, this film has the two protagonists robbing security guards, destroying armored vehicles, and committing acts of terror in order to achieve security.

Obviously, this is a horrific example of how rights restrictions occur in real life. When the film closes its moralistic narrative by explaining that national security measures can be a threat to liberty itself, audiences will be left choking on faux-liberal propaganda and patronizingly simplified political dictums.

LaBeouf and Monaghan try to take this bizarre thriller seriously, but wooden acting and constant attempts to look shocked and scared do little to detract from the truly horrific plot. Most of the movie consists of the two just running away from things, so there is so little room for real acting that almost anyone could have starred in this mess.

The cinematography is frenetic and highly stylized and the intense and way too frequent editing helps the film feel like a genuine high-tech thriller. The only problem is that the focus on concrete elements of filmmaking only underscores the lack of focus on simple storytelling. And the failure to put forth a coherent plot is nothing short of unforgivable.