Okay… you know that scene in the Matrix where Neo gets a package with a phone that rings immediately when it hits his hand? On the other line is a mysterious voice giving him instructions on how to escape the office without being captured? Well, take that, stretch it into a full length feature, and that’s the basic premise of this film. A premise that worked surprisingly well. Much better than the previews would lead you to believe at least.
 
Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) returns home after attending the funeral of his genius, military-minded twin brother who has been killed in a freak car accident. He arrives to find all manner of illegal weapons and military manuals in his apartment, receives a phone call from a mysterious woman urging him to run, but is busted by the FBI before getting out of the door. With this phone call, the mysterious woman gives him instructions to escape, landing him, and single mother, Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan), who assists in his escape, in a ton of trouble. Together they find out that they have been framed as terrorists, and realize they have been dragged into a very large and frightening scheme. 

This is one of those movies that attempts to prove a point but manages to get in over its head pretty quickly. The creativity behind manipulating the main characters into doing things against their will is brilliant. The use of such a variety of communication devices is pretty amazing, although, until you get to the end, is quite unbelievable.
 
The acting is fun if not outstanding. Having a strong supporting cast like Billy Bob Thorton and Rosario Dawson helps when you’re forced to endure extended periods of LaBeouf on screen. I haven’t lost my mind over LaBeouf the way Hollywood seems to have. His part in this was well played, though, and he doesn’t grate on your nerves like he did in Transformers and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
 
The action in this is well shot and keeps going at a good pace throughout the film. There are a few good laughs, most of which come from a sharp-tounged Billy Bob. Between the action, good character development, and wondering what will happen next, the movie tends to be more engaging that it deserves to be.
 
The underlying plot of this movie is actually very fun. F-U-N. Not good or believable, just fun. If you really look at it, the film begins to get a bit preachy with the whole “big brother” concept and while it might make you think a bit about the government eavesdropping on our lives, you quickly realize that it is so far from being close to possible that it’s more likely polar bears will relocate to Mars when our ice caps melt. The government can’t figure out what to do with the economy much less create a system with the capability of listening and analyzing every communication in the United States. This feat was already done in Dark Knight and, for some odd reason, I can buy Batman managing such a task before our government could. 
Verdict | Watch it on DVD!