By Susan Granger
Special to WestportNow
“Eye in the Sky,” starring Helen Mirren and the late Alan Rickman, is a timely British thriller about drone warfare that turns out to be a real nail-biter.
It begins in a Cabinet office in London, where Lt. Gen. Frank Benson (Rickman) and several officials have ascertained the exact location in Nairobi, Kenya, where several people on their Most Wanted list are convening, including a radicalized British woman with an Al-Shabaab militant.
High above is an American drone, piloted by Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) from a bunker in Nevada, while British Colonel Katherine Powell (Mirren) remotely commands a team of local Kenyan troops, hidden in a nearby warehouse, ready to capture, not kill, the woman and her conspirators.
But when an onsite operative, Jama Farah (Barkhad Abdi), flies a tiny drone, resembling a bug, into the target’s house, it feeds back pictures of terrorists’ preparations for an imminent suicide attack, perhaps at a crowded shopping mall, like before.
“Well, this changes things,” Powell notes, recommending that a Hellfire missile immediately destroy the building and its occupants.
Problem is: the politicians are concerned about the collateral damage of a bombing, since there’s a little girl, Alia (Aisha Takow), selling fresh-baked bread nearby.
So, one after another, they “refer up” to Britain’s Foreign Minister, the U.S. Secretary of State, etc. Stalling makes the military impatient but sympathy has been aroused for the appealing youngster who, unwittingly, is directly in harm’s way.
Thoughtfully scripted by Guy Hibbert and tautly directed by Gavin Hood, it’s a powerfully restrained examination of the ethics and moral quandaries involved in remote-controlled warfare.
While Helen Mirren is ruthlessly formidable, the most memorable moments come from Barkhad Abdi, the Oscar-nominated Somali pirate who confronted Tom Hanks in “Captain Phillips.” And Alan Rickman utters the concluding pronouncement, “Never tell a soldier that he doesn’t know the cost of war.”
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Eye in the Sky” is an edge-of-your-seat suspenseful 7, delineating the new rules of engagement.
Although I majored in journalism, intending to be a war correspondent, I was out of the country when Tina Fey’s dramedy “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” opened, which is why I’m getting to it a bit late.
It’s a fictionalized version of former Chicago Tribune reporter Kim Barker’s 2011 memoir, “The Taliban Shuffle,” chronicling her stint in Afghanistan and Pakistan from 2004 to 2009.
Barker (Tina Fey) is a broadcast journalist who’s dispatched to Kabul because she’s ready to shake up her humdrum life. Upon her arrival, toting a bright orange backpack, she’s immediately upbraided by chauvinistic Gen. Hollanek (Billy Bob Thornton), who’s none too thrilled about her being embedded with his Marines.
Barker’s befriended by her shy Afghan translator, Fahim Ahmadzai (Christopher Abbot), whom she – all too often – endangers by taking thoughtless risks.
Adapted by Robert Carlock and directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, it takes a jab at the longest American military campaign in our nation’s history, pointing out that – at least in one case – our “help” is actually detrimental to the well-being of the women in a local village. That’s something Barker discovers only when she’s beckoned by a group of its burka-clad residents.
Hard-partying Margot Robbie plays Barker’s frenemy, while Martin Freeman is the Scottish photographer who winds up in Barker’s bed, much to the chagrin of Alfred Molina, a high-ranking government official determined to seduce her.
As this character study evolves, tart-talking comedienne Tina Fey shows her dramatic vulnerability, realizing that Barker’s become addicted to danger – evoking memories of “The Hurt Locker” (2008).
On the Granger Gauge, “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” is an insightful 7. As for the military slang title, refer to what its initials spell.
While Biblical epics – like Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” and Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” – have always been popular, Hollywood has discovered that religion sells and, as everyone knows, that’s the bottom-line of show business.
Right now, several inspirational movies can be seen at the multiplex. Whether they’re good or bad seems to make little difference to their faith-based audience, one that is thirsting for recognition.
Back in 2007, Sony Pictures established its own label – Affirm – for Christian evangelical projects, like “Heaven Is for Real,” starring Greg Kinnear. Its latest is “Miracles From Heaven” with Jennifer Garner and Queen Latifah.
Adapted by Randy Brown from Christy Beam’s 2015 memoir, directed by Patricia Riggen and produced by megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes, it dramatizes the tale of a nine year-old suburban Texas girl who inexplicably recovers from a hopeless medical condition after surviving a potentially deadly fall.
Christy Beam (Jennifer Garner) experiences a crisis of faith when her daughter Anna (Kylie Rogers) is diagnosed with an incurable digestive disorder that causes chronic pain. The entire Beam family is stressed as they struggle to pay for expensive treatments and consult a pediatric gastroenterologist (Eugenio Derbez) in Boston.
Then an accident happens: falling, headfirst, 30 feet inside a hollow tree trunk, Anna’s condition goes into spontaneous remission and she, miraculously, recovers. After firefighters pull her out, unharmed, Anna says that she went to heaven and talked to Jesus during the ordeal.
“This movie is about something that I’ve always held dear and close to my heart,” notes Jennifer Garner. “I’m proud of growing up a good little churchgoing United Methodist girl.”
Other current God-related films include “Risen,” “The Young Messiah” and “God’s Not Dead 2.” What all of these have in common is a sense of optimism and renewal, even if there is suffering and loss.
On the Granger Gauge, “Miracles From Heaven” is a sweetly spiritual 6, gently wagging a finger at non-believers.
( Editor’s Note: Westport resident Susan Granger grew up in Hollywood, studied journalism with Pierre Salinger at Mills College, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism. In addition to writing for newspapers and magazines, she has been on radio/television as an anchorwoman and movie/drama critic for many years. See her reviews at www.susangranger.com.)
