Executive Producer Steven Spielberg and director D.J. Caruso have managed to deliver one of the most implausible films of the year with the action-packed spectacle “Eagle Eye.”

The biggest problem with this picture is that it isn’t presented as a futuristic fantasy. Instead the four writers — John Glenn, Travis Adam Wright, Hillary Seitz and Dan McDermott — present a bizarre hodge-podge of a plot that filmgoers are supposed to accept as realistic and logical, despite the preposterous premise.

When two “ordinary” and unrelated Chicago citizens, Jerry and Rachel (Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan) become unwittingly involved in a plot to assassinate a bevy of high-ranking politicians, they are forced to bond together in order to save their own lives as well as the fate of the nation.

Being framed as terror- ists and receiving orders from an unknown woman via cell phone directives, Rachel (a single mother who is desperately trying to save the life of her son) and Jerry (an unmotivated slacker) navigate through an onslaught of death-defy-ing situations that lead them to a Washington, D.C., showdown.

While LaBeouf and Monaghan are pleasant to look at and individually generate an appealing screen presence, there is something off-kilter about their pairing in this film. Billy Bob Thornton and Michael Chiklis also seem a bit miscast as they deliver cheesy and melodramatic dialogue.

Had it been released in the summer amid the blockbuster mega-hits, this picture likely would have fallen quickly between the cracks. As an early fall offering, perhaps it will get a little more attention, but it’s not likely to produce a long-term box-office draw.

The heavy-duty action sequences and computer- graphics special effects will please and entertain viewers who are willing to ignore the invalidity of the story. And fans of Spielberg’s latest “prodigy,” LaBeouf, may take notice of his transition from teen to semi-adult action star.

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(2 out of 4 stars)