Billy Bob's Filmography
EAGLE EYE (2008)
Distributor
Dreamworks
Director
D.J. Caruso
Character
Special Agent Thomas Morgan
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Film Quote
AGENT THOMAS MORGAN: Don't tell me: everything magically went black.
Plot
Returning home from his brother's funeral, underachiever Ethan Shaw (played by Shia LaBeouf) enters his apartment to find it jam-packed with explosives, firearms, terrorist manuals, fertilizer, and other incriminating evidence. Shaw instantly receives a phone call from a mysterious woman, who orders him to flee the apartment. Quicker than you can say "enemy combatant," Shaw's apartment is raided by the FBI, and he is hauled in for questioning. Agent Thomas Morgan (our man Billy Bob) barely gets to question the hapless Shaw when technology begins to run dangerously amuck, swinging a huge construction crane through the window of the FBI office where Shaw is being held. Shaw escapes and is sent on a wild mission by the unidentified female caller, a sort of Orwellian "Big Sister" who dogs his every move via cell phones, digital street signs, surveillance cameras, even the big-screen TV demo room at Circuit City. He is thrown together with Rachel (Michelle Monahan), a single mother who stands to lose her young son finds unless she helps Shaw on his undetermined mission. Agent Morgan leads the relentless government pursuit of Shaw and Rachel as the increasingly desperate pair try to figure out what the woman wants and whether she has anything to do with the murky circumstances surrounding the death of Ethan's brother. The closer they come to uncovering the sinister agenda behind their predicament, the greater and more terrifying the stakes become.
What Billy Bob Gets To Do
In his first action thriller in 10 years, Billy Bob plays a seasoned FBI agent, which he does with equal parts urgency and restraint, presenting (despite the tough-talk and gunfire) a convincing portrayal of a man who has spent most of his adult life inside the Beltway. He gets to be as heroic as he is adversarial in his relationship to the protagonist, plus he gets to find out firsthand just how sucky baggage-handling is in our major airports.
Backstory
Well, here's a damned scary tidbit from the film's IMDb page: "Shia LaBeouf stated that during filming an F.B.I. Agent told him and the cast that 1 in every 5 phone calls someone makes is recorded. To prove this, the agent had him listen to a phone call he made 2 years prior to filming." Working from an idea that Steven Spielberg came up with some 12 years ago, D.J. Caruso remarked that, "the technology had finally caught up to the storytelling... Everybody has a BlackBerry or an iPhone on their belt, and we think we're constantly being tracked. It's less science fiction than when Steven conceived it." A riveting chase scene involving Billy Bob, Shia LaBeouf, and Michelle Monahan on an airport baggage conveyor belt system was shot without digital effects.
EAGLE EYE opened at number one at the box office and set the record for the fourth highest September opening weekend gross.
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Relevant
Links
IMDb Link
Official Site
EAGLE EYE Free Fall Experience (a game, we hope!)
Photos of the soundtrack scoring session!
Credo Mobile (for a phone company that won't turn you in to the Feds)
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (for information on your rights to privacy in case someone who sounds a lot like Julianne Moore starts to call you)
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BBT On DVD
Released just three months after its successful opening, EAGLE EYE comes in the usual flavors: DVD, 2-Disc Special Edition DVD, and Blu-Ray. We at Billybobapalooza always opt for the 2-Disc Special Edition DVDs (in Widescreen) and found the extras fascinating and more than a little bit creepy. On Disc 1, you get the film, deleted scenes, and Road Trip: On Location with the Cast and Crew. On Disc 2, you can dig the Alternate Ending; Asymmetrical Warfare: The Making of EAGLE EYE, the Shall We Play a Game? featurette about D.J. Caruso's relationship with his mentor, John Badham (who directed the 1983 computer paranoia thriller WAR GAMES); the Gag Reel (where, predictably, Billy Bob sightings abound); a photo gallery; and the theatrical trailer. You can also watch Is My Cell Phone Spying on Me?, an unsettling look at how most--if not all--of the technology that drives the storyline already exists to varying and increasingly invasive degrees in our lives. Of course, Billy Bob--the avowed technophobe--does not appear in this little feature. The most technical Hisfineself gets is watching with admiration while his music producer Jim Mitchell works wonders on Pro Tools in the recording studio in Billy Bob's basement. |
