Eye of the Beholder (2000)

★★
In an interview for T.V. Guide, Ewan McGregor was discussing his role in Star Wars: Episode 1—The Phantom Menace. He said that he appeared in this big-budgeted movie because of the prestige of the series, but that he would continue to do all the small, independent efforts that he truly enjoys doing. In one of his comments, he said that he would never "taint [his] soul with crap like Independence Day." Well, I guess that didn't stop him from appearing in Eye of the Beholder, which isn't crap but comes close to it by employing a weak story with even weaker plot connections.

McGregor stars as the Eye, a detective who specializes in surveillance. His current assignment is to watch over a man who is stealing money from his father. While spying on his home, the Eye sees a mysterious woman (Ashley Judd) who is also a serial killer. After she kills the man, she dumps the body and escapes to New York City. The Eye follows her and spies on her, hoping to find out who she is. Her name is Joanna Eris, who likes to meet rich men and kill them for money. The Eye defies his superiors. He wants to learn more about her and becomes obsessed with following her and even protecting her in the process.

During the first half of the movie, the Eye is haunted by visions of his daughter, whom he hasn't seen in years because his wife left him. He holds conversations with her even though he knows she isn't real. There is a weak connection between his daughter and Joanna. It seems that the Eye failed at being there for his daughter and is trying to make up for that by following Joanna and protecting her from capture. This notion is barely hinted at in the movie, which never truly explores his fascination with Joanna. There are several scenes in which Joanna is about to be captured, and he either warns her or distracts the police so that she can get away. His growing obsession with Joanna could have been interesting, but with the weak link between her and the Eye's daughter, the movie becomes nothing more than a convoluted thriller.

The movie has more locations than any other recent movie I can remember. As Joanna travels to various cities around the country, which include the starting point, Washington D.C., as well as Pittsburgh, New York City, San Francisco, Chicago and many more, the Eye is right there behind her, setting up his equipment and spy cameras to watch her every move. At one stop, a drug-addicted punk named Gary (Jason Priestley, looking nothing like his heartthrob image from Beverly Hills, 90210) abuses Joanna. When she is unconscious, the Eye bursts in to rescue her. If the movie had the brains to explore his character, we might care what happens to him and Joanna, but they are nothing more than flat characters in a mediocre screenplay.

Several plot holes seriously hurt the credibility of the movie. The Eye has a contact named Hilary (k.d. lang), who is pretty much the only person with whom he keeps in touch back at the office. At one point, he quits his job to concentrate on following Joanna, yet later when he needs help, he calls Hilary as if he never quit. The Eye takes advantage of Hilary, treats her rudely, yet she always seems willing to help. The screenplay, by director Stephan Elliott, is a collection of ridiculous plot twists that accomplish the easy task of alienating the audience.

Ewan McGregor and Ashley Judd are both fine actors, but I don't know what led them to believe that this was a good movie. I read that this film was made two years prior to its release date and finally got released after the successes of Star Wars: Episode 1 and Judd's much better Double Jeopardy. On a technical level, Eye of the Beholder is impressive. The different gadgets that the Eye uses on his cases are neat, but the movie could have worked better if it had more depth and character development. I suppose such concepts were too far for the screenwriter's eye to behold.

© 2000 Silver Screen Reviews