An Army Colonel (Helen Mirren) finally has eyes on a long sought terrorist target, about to transact a gun deal in a Kenyan market district. While awaiting permission to discharge him from the face of the earth, a young girl wanders into the blast radius complicating matters and causing officials all the way up the chain of command to either shirk or pass on responsibility. Gavin Hood's Eye in the Sky is a movie that thwarts any hope for tension in favor of legal and moral debates that are about as lively as an ethics memorandum all the while patting itself on the back and basking in its unearned sentiment. Mirren is miscast with a bunch unworthy British actors filling out the supporting roles along with an insufferable Aaron Paul as the teary eyed morally conflicted drone pilot. Only Rickman delivers in one of his last screen roles.
* 1/2 out ****
