Thomas Egan is a United States Air Force pilot who is disillusioned with the war in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Thomas flies drones and drops bombs on countries from the safety of a room miles away from the war zone. Although his superiors tell him that they are fighting a just war, he feels like a coward. He questions the ethics behind killing innocents in Yemen. ‘Good Kill’ hit theaters on May 15. The film is based on real events.
IMDb rated the film 6.3/10 out of 4,654 users. Metacritic gave the film a Metascore of 64 out of 32 critics. Its User Score of 4.6 out of 10 ratings. It received 19 positive reviews and 13 mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes rated the film 75% on the Tomatometer. Its average rating is 6.4/10 taken from 92 reviews. It received 69 Fresh Tomatoes and 23 Rotten Tomatoes. Its Audience Score is 54% with an average rating of 3.3/5 out of 5,208 ratings. According to Box Office Mojo, the film made $230,204 as of May 24.
‘Good Kill’ stars Ethan Hawke as Major Thomas Egan, January Jones as Molly Egan, Zoë Kravitz as Vera Suarez, Jake Abel as M.I.C. Joseph Zimmer, and Bruce Greenwood as Colonel Jack Johns.
The film was written and directed by Andrew Niccol. It was produced by Mark Amin, Nicolas Chartier, and Zev Foreman. It features music by Christophe Beck. Amir Mokri is the cinematographer. The film was edited by Zach Staenberg. Voltage Pictures and Sobini Films are the production companies behind ‘Good Kill.’ It was distributed by IFC Films.
Ethan Hawke at the Toronto International Film Festival in Ontario, Canada on September 2007.
Reviews on Rotten Tomatoes:
1) “Niccol's film may not be perfect, but it shines a light on a subject many viewers will know vaguely by name - and not much more,” wrote Sara Stewart from New York Post.
2) “Good Kill excels as a character study with Niccol's screenplay making Egan a fascinatingly conflicted and flawed individual and Ethan Hawke giving one of his best recent performances bringing the man to life,” wrote James Berardinelli from ReelViews.
3) “For the most part, "Good Kill" asks pertinent, enduring questions, not by way of polemic, but through the study of a character whose professionalism and competence are given full respect, even when they're challenged by the mission at hand,” wrote Ann Hornaday from Washington Post.
4) “But the visuals pack a visceral punch. Every time Tom zeroes in on a target, every time he pushes that button, what we see on those monitors is brutally authentic,” wrote Richard Roeper from Chicago Sun-Times
5) “Directed and written by Andrew Niccol (whose phenomenal 1997 film Gattaca also starred Hawke), and supposedly "based on actual events," Good Kill raises important questions about the nature of modern warfare, but it is a bit heavy-handed and strained,” wrote Cary Darling from Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.Com
