Good Kill

Stars: Ethan Hawke, January Jones, Bruce Greenwood, Zoe Kravitz, Jake Abel, Stafford Douglas

Director: Andrew Niccol

After several combat missions over Afghanistan, veteran pilot Tommy Egan (Hawke) is assigned to the 'US Chair Force', based outside Las Vegas and operating drones over Afghanistan.

The lines of which target to hit, however, have become increasingly blurred over the months, and, when the CIA takes over the operation, hitherto bossed with cynical resignation by Johns (Greenwood), they disappear altogether,

Married to a former showgirl (Jones), to whom he cannot confide the fatigue, both mental and physical. brought on by his top-secret mission, and with two children at home, Egan relies increasingly on the vodka bottle, and is obviously close to cracking up.

Hawke, almost unrecognisable at first (his face seems to have squared up) has a decent try at communicating the strain placed on him by the frustrating demands of his job, but Jones suffers from an inconsistently written role, which has her sympathetic one moment and ready to leave her husband the next.

The rather catchpenny title belies what is basically a human drama, but it's one that, if rather unvarying in tone, does at least have a satisfying ending.

David Quinlan

USA 2014. UK Distributor: Arrow Films. Colour (unspecified).
102 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 0, Swearing 2.

Review date: 08 Apr 2015