Eye of God

I have watched this film approximately five times, and the depth of the acting and brilliant presentation of the plot continue to impress me.

A small-town girl, played by Martha Plimpton, marries an ex-convict (who has to wear an ankle detector as a condition of his parole) immediately after he is released from prison. What evolves during the course of this movie forces viewers to consider faith versus the harsh reality of dealing who some people truly are at heart.

Jack is released from prison and meets up with Ainsley, a young woman he has been writing letters to for quite some time. Ainsley is a sweet romantic simpleton who doesn't even want to know about the crime that put him in prison. Jack believes that he has been reformed by the justice system and by religion, but he's also a control freak. For strange reasons lost in the mysteries of the human heart, these poor souls decide to start a relationship.

One can't give away too much of the plot without collapsing the nonlineary framework of the film and ruining its breathtaking effect. So suffice it to say that this recipe for disaster is tossed up in the air along with the biblical story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac and with all the theological and ethical problems both of these stories present. Everything builds to a whirling climax of nonlinear convergence and small-scale horror. In the end the audience is brought face-to-face with that grand philosophical theme "the problem of evil," and we find no easy solutions.

I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma, I understood completely the feeling of the place, the time, the people. So many people think that life is simple in a small town, but it is not...all the dark secrets are there, all the illness that everyone attributes to living in large cities is also there.

I couldn't take my eyes off the screen while I was watching this movie. Sometimes a film does come along that is everything a film is supposed to be.

If you haven't yet seen this film, please make an effort to watch it, it will be well worth your time.

Directed by Tim Blake Nelson, most recently recognisable from his performances in Holes and The Good Girl, Eye of God is a story of doomed love and loneliness told out of order.

Martha Plimpton is Ainsley Dupree (a name I think sounds quite cool and have since used in stories of my own) a waitress who falls in love with a dangerous ex-con (Kevin Anderson). After wondering what the hell she has soon married into she seeks comfort with lonely teenager Tom.

I liked this movie a lot and the performances were very good all round. Especially Holbrook, he was just so believable as an old sheriff who's seen it all. Nick Stahl is much better here than he was in Disturbing Behavior. I think the last few scenes with him and Martha Plimpton were quite intimate and it really made the whole movie totally enjoyable for me.

Highly recommended but quite a rare film to come across in stores or on TV.

With explicit references to the Bible, "Eye Of God" is a thought provoking film that explores the effect of religious faith on the relationship between a lonely young woman named Ainsley (Martha Plimpton) and Jack (Kevin Anderson), the prison parolee whom Ainsley befriends. In its realism and its setting in rural Oklahoma, "Eye Of God" reminds me of "Silkwood". Both films are depressing, sad, and have a fatalistic quality to them. Both films explore life and death issues. And in both films, the essential question is not who, or when, or how, but ... why.

In style, "Eye Of God" is simple, direct, low-key, and personal. There's very little camera movement. Typically framed by doors or windows, most scenes are unobtrusive locked-off shots of characters talking. The cinematography is totally not flashy nor gimmicky in any way. The acting is direct, restrained, understated, and high in quality. Martha Plimpton gives a flawless performance. I was also impressed with the performance of Margo Martindale, in a support role. Further elevating the overall acting is Hal Holbrook who gives his usual raspy voice performance as the town sheriff.

There's very little score. At times, country songs can be heard in the background. The film opens with the beautiful gospel recording of "Live With Jesus", by Wynonna Judd.

Some viewers may not like the story's non-linear structure. The film uses time-cuts to force the plot ahead and then back in time in such a way that scenes are not necessarily in chronological order. But the scenes are always thematically related. As the film moves along, the various seemingly unrelated threads come together. And it all makes sense in the end.

This is a movingly personal film whose theme runs deep. As such, nearly all viewers can connect with one or more characters in some way. The film is entertaining for its high quality acting and for its interesting cinematography. But more than that, this is a film with a profound message relevant to contemporary audiences. "Eye Of God" is one of the best films of the last fifteen years.