Good Kill

Name: Good Kill
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Released: May 15, 2015
Duration: 102 min
Rating: 63
Cast: Ethan Hawke, January Jones, Zoë Kravitz

2015

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 62 Ratings

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6.1	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 62 Ratings

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Good Kill

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Movie Details & Credits

IFC Films | Release Date: May 15, 2015 | R

Starring: Ethan Hawke, January Jones, Zoë Kravitz

Summary: In the shadowy world of drone warfare, combat unfolds like a video game–only with real lives at stake. After six tours of duty, Air Force pilot Tom Egan (Ethan Hawke) yearns to get back into the cockpit of a real plane, but he now fights the Taliban from an air-conditioned box in the Las Vegas desert. When he and his crew start takingIn the shadowy world of drone warfare, combat unfolds like a video game–only with real lives at stake. After six tours of duty, Air Force pilot Tom Egan (Ethan Hawke) yearns to get back into the cockpit of a real plane, but he now fights the Taliban from an air-conditioned box in the Las Vegas desert. When he and his crew start taking orders directly from the CIA, and the stakes are raised, Egan's nerves—and his relationship with his wife (January Jones)—begin to unravel. [IFC Films]… Expand

Director: Andrew Niccol

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller

Rating: R

Runtime: 102 min

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Critic Reviews

Stephen Holden

May 14, 2015

Mr. Hawke’s anguished performance gives Good Kill a hot emotional center. Read full review

Drew McWeeny

Sep 14, 2014

Niccol is working in a very stripped down and direct mode, and I think overall, it works. Good Kill is unsettling, and the entire cast does spare, unsentimental work. Read full review

Jeff Baker

May 22, 2015

Good Kill deserves credit for framing these important issues in a credible, visually challenging drama, but writer-director Andrew Niccol doesn't take his material anywhere interesting. Read full review

Ann Hornaday

May 21, 2015

Admittedly, Niccol succumbs to the temptation to make mini-billboards out of his dialogue, in which arguments follow neat “on the one hand” trajectories. But for the most part, Good Kill asks pertinent, enduring questions, not by way of polemic, but through the study of a character. Read full review

Bill Goodykoontz

May 21, 2015

Niccol looks at the pilot's struggles and the toll this remote form of warfare takes on his life. It's certainly intriguing, but he tells his story in such broad, obvious strokes that the movie isn't as powerful as it could be. Read full review

Matt Glasby

Apr 6, 2015

Required viewing as a critique of US foreign policy but forgettable as a drama, Good Kill is a timely warning, even if it lacks the power of the horrors it depicts. Read full review

John Bleasdale

Sep 13, 2014

When Good Kill takes aim at US foreign policy and the advances in military technology, it creates moments of chilling and powerful drama, but this is dissipated and compromised by its mirror-punching domestic drama and its bizarre need to bring about something like a happy ending. Read full review

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User Reviews

lordofdicks

Jul 19, 2015

The storyline is realistic and it really shows the impact of modern warfare on both terrorist and innocent lives. The pilot only follows the orders given when to engage and sometimes even he may have mixed opinions about that. The cast is good, and with Ethan Hawke in it, this movie isThe storyline is realistic and it really shows the impact of modern warfare on both terrorist and innocent lives. The pilot only follows the orders given when to engage and sometimes even he may have mixed opinions about that. The cast is good, and with Ethan Hawke in it, this movie is definitely a go.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

annapatrix

Sep 17, 2015

Great story line, a well done drama. Ethan Hawke is amazing in this movie. A must watch!

Watch it online for free: https://www.primewire.ag/watch-2760940-Good-Kill-online-free

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

JLuis_001

Sep 7, 2017

Much more satisfactory than expected, Good Kill is an excellent film that brings into play a delicate subject without falling into manipulations or even attempts to take sides, it exposes its ideas and story with bases so the viewer make his own conclusions on the subject, which makes itsMuch more satisfactory than expected, Good Kill is an excellent film that brings into play a delicate subject without falling into manipulations or even attempts to take sides, it exposes its ideas and story with bases so the viewer make his own conclusions on the subject, which makes its concept more satisfactory than it would seem at first.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Tss5078

Jul 29, 2018

Major Tom Egan (Ethan Hawke) is a decorated Air-force pilot, who after five deployments, has been assigned to a base in Las Vegas, where he conducts drones strikes over Afghanistan. He hates his job and feels like a coward, but things get a whole lot worse, when the CIA commissions his teamMajor Tom Egan (Ethan Hawke) is a decorated Air-force pilot, who after five deployments, has been assigned to a base in Las Vegas, where he conducts drones strikes over Afghanistan. He hates his job and feels like a coward, but things get a whole lot worse, when the CIA commissions his team to start doing questionable jobs. Egan starts to come apart and take it out on his co-workers and family, leading to an uncertain future. IFC films are right at the top of my list right now as the absolute best in independent film. Seldom have they disappointed me, and I wouldn't describe my feelings about Good Kill as disappointed, but rather indifferent. This film, based on a true story, was exceptionally written and features a fantastic director and an amazing cast, but it also moves at a snails pace and is extremely repetitive. It's just drone strike, reaction, intervention, repeat, over and over again, followed by an ending that wasn't all that surprising. Ethan Hawke gives a powerful performance, despite the fact that he lacks the kind of emotion this role sorely needed. I understand that having Egan be this stone cold guy on the outside is a major theme, but it also makes for a lot of seemingly endless conversations and interactions. Good Kill has a lot of elements I look for in a movie, it's well written, has a cast I really enjoy, a director I know very well, still, it's lacking in emotion and levity. The film is monotonous and much longer than it had to be, all in all, not bad, but not great.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

LeZee

Sep 9, 2016

A modern warfare and its effect on the family of a person who involved in it.

I like this director's films, because he writes the screenplay for all his films and each were so different with cleverness in narration. Sadly, this is the first one I didn't like. It was very similar to theA modern warfare and its effect on the family of a person who involved in it.

I like this director's films, because he writes the screenplay for all his films and each were so different with cleverness in narration. Sadly, this is the first one I didn't like. It was very similar to the 'Eye in the Sky', but came before than that and with a stretched storyline. It centres on Thomas, a pilot for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) stationed at an air base in Las Vegas, but fighting combat in the middle-east. Every day he's bombing at the terrorist makes him quite uneasy when the innocents get killed. And on the other hand, failing to handle his family with his professional distress brings more complication and how it ends are the rest of the film.

In my view I think the overly sentimentalised great film concept destroyed it. The emotions work fine in the war themes, but here it gives a wrong idea over battle against the terror outfits. Because of a combat officer with the sympathetic mind, that considered as the weakness of a soldier. So it all begins with the writing, if one wants to make a war film, a modern warfare, relying on this kind of storyline brings only anti sentiments from the soldier's perspective and we the people who love our nation.

I understand when the main film characters are not physically present at the actual battleground, not easy to draw a good story out of it. And due to the complete absent of a soldier getting injured in a crossfire, they wend for different kind of emotional dealing. The only thing that made me sense was the sexual abuse parts and how it was taken care later. Good actors, good direction, but a weak story and shortfall of some good thrill moments makes it an average.

5/10… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

ydnar4

May 16, 2015

I was interested in Good Kill as soon as I saw the trailer. The story was certainly one that brought me in. I was also eager to see Ethan Hawke's next project after Boyhood, which was the first movie I saw him in that I actually enjoyed his performance. Good Kill does have some veteranI was interested in Good Kill as soon as I saw the trailer. The story was certainly one that brought me in. I was also eager to see Ethan Hawke's next project after Boyhood, which was the first movie I saw him in that I actually enjoyed his performance. Good Kill does have some veteran actors involved with Hawke, Bruce Greenwood and January Jones, who had the best performance in the film by far. Good Kill brings a relatively unknown component of the war on terrorism (it is said to be a true story but I'm not sure if I believe it) to light. Hawke gets caught in the middle of a huge ethical dilemma and begins to suffer from post traumatic stress. Good Kill was not exciting enough to keep my attention so I needed a big performance from Ethan Hawke and sadly I did not get it. I would not waste the money on this film because its just mediocre throughout.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

Broyax

Jun 6, 2020

Comme toujours avec Andrew Niccol, la mise en scène est toujours sérieuse et les sujets qu'il choisit sont... souvent assez polémiques ! Et comme souvent, cela fait certainement réagir. Aussi réagis-je immédiatement tant que le fer est encore chaud et que les décombres fument encore...Comme toujours avec Andrew Niccol, la mise en scène est toujours sérieuse et les sujets qu'il choisit sont... souvent assez polémiques ! Et comme souvent, cela fait certainement réagir. Aussi réagis-je immédiatement tant que le fer est encore chaud et que les décombres fument encore...

Surtout que j'apprécie Ethan Hawk, un acteur éminent qui ne tire jamais la couverture à soi et sert toujours ses rôles... avant lui-même, contrairement à nombre d'acteurs "triple A" qui dégoulinent autant de prétention que d'incompétence épouvantables... Mais ne nous emballons pas et restons focalisé sur la cible... parce que moi son boulot, je le fais avec joie et allégresse tous les matins sans problème et la nuit s'il le faut : donnez-moi une check-list, des cibles et j'envois la purée tant que vous voulez, mon Colonel !! oui Monsieur et plutôt deux fois qu'une, Monsieur !!

Parce que Ethan donc incarne ce bisounours ex-pilote qui... pilote désormais des drones ; évidemment pour un pilote, se taper un drone, c'est comme donner un bus à pilote de Formule 1... mais à la guerre comme à la guerre, on est pas dans une putain de colonie de vacances !

Apparemment, la collègue mexicaine ne l'a pas encore compris ni intégré... si lui est le bisounours qui noie ses larmes de Caliméro dans l'alcool, elle, c'est l'autre bisounours, bisounourse pardon, de gauche, pacifiste pro-islamo-multi-culturaliste (et sûrement écolo et baissage de froc pendant qu'on y est) adepte du vivre_ensemble et angéliste niaise complètement débile...!

J'espère qu'ils n'embauchent pas des connes comme ça dans l'Armée américaine parce que là, franchement, c'est de la haute trahison ou de la pure connerie de simple connasse de base.

Alors oui, comme ça, les drones ont des armes et même des missiles... qui tuent les gens ! et attention, c'est pas un jeu vidéo, non, non... et même que les terroristes s'entourent de boucliers humains, à savoir des civils, des femmes et des enfants... ! mais quelle horreur la guerre, c'est trop affreux, affreux... la frappe chirurgicale qui dérape dans les grandes largeurs...

Et le Caliméro qui boit alors qu'il a un super boulot, une vieille muscle-car à jantes bling-bling, deux beaux enfants et une blonde encore bandante... nan mais meeerde... de quel côté es-tu mon petit gars ? avec nous ou avec eux ? faudrait savoir ! Donc tout est raté là-dedans ou presque... sauf peut-être ce moment où il veut rendre la justice (?!)... mais alors c'est quoi ce bordel, tu deviens très vindicatif sur ce coup-là, tout-à-coup...

M'enfin bref, tout ce merdier ne vaut finalement pas un pet !… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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