Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Tim Blake Nelson, over the past several years, has proven himself to be a remarkably flexible character actor. He has turned in excellent performances in The Good Girl, Cherish, Minority Report, ‘O Brother Where Art Thou and Holes, playing characters so diverse as to be barely recognizable at times. Back in 1997, before these roles brought him to the attention of most movie-goers, Nelson also began trying his hand at writing/directing, the result being the film Eye of God.

Eye of God takes place in a small, rural, essentially dying town in Oklahoma. People are moving away, businesses are closing and the folks tend to reflect that grim reality. They go about their business, but in a resigned, joyless way. Ainsley Dupree (Martha Plimpton) is a shy, inexperienced uneducated young woman who has entered into a relationship via the US Mail with a man in prison. The day that Jack (Kevin Anderson) is released, he makes a beeline for Ainsley, the two having clearly committed themselves to this relationship despite having never met. Jack found religion in prison and wants only to get married and have a family.

Running concurrently with the story of Ainsley and Jack is the story of Tommy Spencer (Nick Stahl). Tommy is a nebulously troubled teen who becomes traumatized after witnessing something horrifically violent. What it is, we don’t know, as he becomes mute in his shock.

The film switches back and forth between these stories, and after a while it becomes clear that the two are not concurrent in time, not to intersect until late in the film. So what we have is essentially a flashback type structure – in itself fine, but as done here quite confusing. It simply takes too long for the structure to be revealed, and once it is the central mystery is too easily solved.

That said, these characters are very well drawn. Ainsley is a very nice complex mix of passive and strong – something not easy to pull off. She is a product of her surroundings, sometimes turning a blind eye to the obvious in order to survive in this small, depressing town. Jack is charming and elusive. And Tommy seems strange, though it seems clear that his differences are not organic in nature. Each of these characters is very well served by the actor who plays them. Plimpton walks her line between a weak and determined well, coming across as girlish and mousy one moment, adult and independent the next. Kevin Anderson is enigmatic and earnest enough in his enthusiasm that it is easy to see the inexperienced Ainsley being swept off her feet.

The finest performance by far is that of Nick Stahl as Tommy. What makes this surprising is that he has almost no dialogue at all. It’s all body posture and facial expression, making his characterization of this mysterious boy very compelling. Hal Holbrook also puts in a strong performance as the sheriff. His scenes on camera are good, but his off camera voice over narration at the beginning and end of the film is superb. He opens the film with a telling of the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac. From the point of view of the child Isaac. It is tremendously effective at setting the tone of the film, hearing the imagined desperate fear and confusion of the young boy nearly sacrificed to prove the faith of his father. As we pan through the windswept emptiness of the town, Nelson’s words and Holbrook’s delivery set a lonely, desolate stage.

What Tim Blake Nelson has done in Eye of God (there is an actual eye involved – perhaps not that of God, but an eye nonetheless) is put some very well written and played characters on screen in a story that doesn’t quite sustain its suspense. The premise is a good one, but the execution is a touch off – relying too heavily on the non-sequential storyline to maintain tension. This device is confusing at first and too revealing in the end. Nevertheless, it is clear that this talented actor is also a talented writer and director – his characters have depth and his dialogue flows well and feels real. Nelson has continued to write and direct since this debut (directing O and writing and directing The Grey Zone), and I definitely plan to see more of his work.


Recommended: Yes