Failure to launch

Plodding, simplistic Drone lands with a thud

Any film that features both Sean Bean and drone warfare immediately raises one important question; does Bean’s character die, as he does in so many other films?

I won’t spoil the movie, mostly because Drone already does an excellent job of spoiling itself. Ploddingly plotted and devastatingly simple when it comes to global politics, terrorist motivations and extraterritorial assassination, Drone imagines a tense meeting between a U.S.-based civilian drone operator and a shady Pakistani businessman.

Bean plays Neil, the drone dude, firing Hellfires as part of his top-secret day job, then heading home to try to write a eulogy for his recently deceased father. His teenage son (Maxwell Haynes) is even more upset at the old man’s death, while his wife (Mary McCormack) is consumed by a secret love affair. Into this powder keg walks Imir Shaw (Montrealborn Patrick Sabongui), whom we already know has more on his mind than making an offer on the family’s boat.

Director and co-writer Jason Bourque punctuates the camerawork with long overhead shots of Neil’s suburban neighbourhood, as though the entire movie were somehow under aerial surveillance. Also, points for making a metaphor solid when we see one character who literally won’t hurt a fly.

The film features an oddly uneven tone, as family drama gets shoved aside for a kind of ticking-clock thriller ending. Drone arrives years after some much better drone dramas, among them Andrew Niccol’s Good Kill with Ethan Hawke, and Eye in the Sky, featuring Helen Mirren and the last onscreen role of Alan Rickman. Compared to these, Drone suffers from limited range and a greatly reduced payload.