Movie Type: Psychological Thriller, Detective Film
Themes: Serial Killers, Voyeurs, Dangerous Attraction
Main Cast: Ewan McGregor, Ashley Judd, Patrick Bergin, k.d. lang, Jason Priestley
Release Year: 1999
Country: UK/CA/AU
Run Time: 107 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Part high-tech spy thriller and part psychological study, Eye of the Beholder was Ewan McGregor's first feature film following his mainstream breakthrough performance in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. The Eye (Ewan McGregor) is an agent of the British Secret Service, equipped with the latest in high-tech crime fighting gadgetry and assisted by his indefatigable collegue, Hilary (k.d. lang). The Eye's latest assignment is a surveillance project; the son of a well-known politician has been spending a great deal of money on someone, and they would like to know who and why. A little sleuthing reveals that the mysterious person taking the cash is a woman named Joanna (Ashley Judd), but the trail gets much stickier when the Eye witnesses Joanna pulling a knife and killing the politician's son. Normally, he'd take the shortcut to putting her behind bars, but some time ago he lost contact with his daughter when his wife left him; Joanna reminds the Eye of his daughter, and he's too fascinated with her to bring her to justice. The Eye now follows Joanna obsessively, and discovers that she's also involved with a blind man (Patrick Bergin) and has a history of emotional instability from being abandoned by her father at a young age. Eye of the Beholder was directed by Stephan Elliott, best known for the comedy The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Geneviève Bujold - Dr. Brault; Una Kay - Hilary's Mother; David Nerman - Mike; Michel Perron - Fat Businessman; Michelle Sweeney - Salvo; Vlasta Vrana - Hugo; Russell Yuen - Federal Agent 1; Louis Negin - Bartender; Amanda Davis - Gir; Gayle Garfinkle - Head Watress; Steven McCarthy - Paul; Vera Miller - Tea Trolley Lady; Nadia Rona - Tea Trolley Lady; Sam Stone - Alaskan Federal Agent 2; Charles Powell - Prisoner; Al Clark - Redneck; Janine Theriault - Nathy; Donovan Reiter - Local 1; Howard Bilerman - Waiter; Don Jordan - Toohey; Leonard Farlinger - Young Joanna's Father; Tom Karle - Fat Man; Al Vandecruys - Alaskan Federal Agent 1; Anne-Marie Brown - Lucy; Kaitlin Brown - Lucy; Maria Revelins - Ms. Keenan; Lisa Forget - Nurse; Stephane Levasseur - Federal Agent 2; Mauro Venditelli - Boss; Josa Maule - Receptionist; Carole Collin - Secretary; Stephanie Sbrega - Sandra; Philip Le Maistre - gas attendant; Maria Bircher - Waitress; Cara Reynolds - Young Joanna; Jason Baerg - Gay Man; Carl Crevier - Chauffeur; Dr. Erwin Goldberg - Doctor; Garth Gilker - Airport Guard; James Hieminga - Wade; Bob Brewster - Cop; Merlee Shapiro - Reva Desk Clark; Erik Johnson - Local 2
Credit
Réal Proulx - Art Director, Charles Gassot - Associate Producer, Grant Lee - Associate Producer, Vera Miller - Casting, Nadia Rona - Casting, Emily Schweber - Casting, Rosina Bucci - Casting, Chris Elliott - Conductor, Al Clark - Co-producer, Lizzy Gardiner - Costume Designer, Marie La Haye - Continuity, Jennifer Jonas - First Assistant Director, Carl Desjardins - First Assistant Director, N. Trent Hurry - First Assistant Director, Stephan Elliott - Director, Sue Blainey - Editor, Mark Damon - Executive Producer, Hilary Shor - Executive Producer, François Fauteux - Location Manager, Anita Bensabat - Location Manager, Suzanne De Carufel - Location Manager, Manon Bougie - Line Producer, Maruis de Vries - Composer (Music Score), Chris Elliott - Musical Arrangement, Claudette Casavant - Makeup, Robert Guertin - Camera Operator, Nathalie Moliavko-Visotzky - Camera Operator, François Daignault - Camera Operator, Sylvaine Dufaux - Camera Operator, Jean Baptiste Tard - Production Designer, Guy Dufaux - Cinematographer, Gilles Perreault - Production Manager, Nicolas Clermont - Producer, Tony Smith - Producer, Guy Blouin - Set Designer, Martine Kazemirchuk-Giguère - Set Designer, Claude La Haye - Sound/Sound Designer, Hans Peter Strobl - Sound/Sound Designer, Viateur Paiement - Sound/Sound Designer, Martin Pinsonnault - Sound/Sound Designer, Stéphane Lefebvre - Stunts Coordinator, Les Productions de L'intrigue - Special Effects Supervisor, Jacques Langlois - Special Effects Supervisor, Marc Behm - Screenwriter, Stephan Elliott - Screenwriter, Nathalie Moliavko-Visotzky - Second Unit Director Of Photography, Georges Jardon - Visual Effects Supervisor, Daniel Leduc - Visual Effects Supervisor, Martin Pinsonnault - Sound Effects Editor, Raymond Ducasse - Animal Trainer/Wrangler, Pro-Films Animals - Animal Trainer/Wrangler, Hybride Technologies - Digital Effects, Dina Eaton - Music Editor, Chris Elliott - Musical Performer, Electra Strings - Musical Performer, Georges Jardon - Post Production Supervisor, Helene Muller - Production Coordinator, Hans Peter Strobl - Re-Recording Mixer, Bernard Gariepy Strobl - Re-Recording Mixer, Bonnie Blyle - Second Assistant Director, François Daignault - Steadicam Operator, Guy Pelletier - Dialogue Editor, Sylvie Desmarais - Draftsman, Jérôme Décarie - Foley Artist, Marie-France Cardinal - Key Hairstylist, Francine Gagnon - Key Make-up, Chris Chrisafis - Production Executive, Marc Behm - Book Author, Viateur Paiement - ADR Supervisor, Victoria Rose Sampson - ADR Supervisor, Robert "Bobby Z" Zajonc - Pilot, Telecine Multimedia - Video Playback
The Eye (McGregor) is an intelligence agent whose current assignment is to track down the rich socialite son of his boss and find out what trouble he has gotten himself into. This leads him to Joanna Eris (Judd), a serial killer who is in a relationship with the son, whom she murders. The Eye is a witness to the crime.
At Penn Station in Pittsburgh, Eris commits yet another murder, enabling The Eye to finally corner her as he prepares to call for backup. Instead of turning her in, The Eye, having gone through a messy divorce in which he lost custody of his daughter, follows her in an effort to save her. He hallucinates constantly that his daughter is with him, and comes to think of Eris as a vulnerable, lost child.
The Eye follows her across the country and through several murders. He soon discovers that Eris and her father were homeless and that he abandoned her, explaining her pathological hatred of men. When Eris helps a rich blind man (Patrick Bergin) in an airport, the two become involved, fall in love and become engaged, and it looks like they might even live a happy life. The Eye, who has witnessed all of this, cannot bear to let her go, and is willing to do anything to stop her from having a relationship with another man. While the couple is on the way to the chapel for the wedding, The Eye shoots a bullet in one of their tires and the car crashes, killing Eris' fiancé. After a stranger (Jason Priestly) forces Eris to inject heroin when her car dies in the desert, Eris loses her unborn baby before fleeing to Alaska, with the Eye on her trail.
In Alaska, The Eye gains the courage to ask Eris out, as he is a frequent patron of the diner at which she waitresses. They have a few drinks in the evening, both getting emotional, and Eris mentions where she would like to be buried when she dies. She then says she has nothing to give him, that she is empty, and that he should leave her alone. The next day the police, as well as Eris' psychiatrist (Genevieve Bujold), come to the diner to arrest her. The Eye tries to save her, taking her to his trailer. There she is horrified to find out that he has been following her. She shoots him, although only with a blank cartridge. She flees and he follows her on a motorcycle, where he catches up to her, and she realizes he is the "Angel" who has saved her from every tight situation she has gotten into. At this revelation she crashes the car. She tells him she knows him as her "Angel". The fact he also survived being "shot" drives home the idea that he is her angel.
