Directed by:
Pete TravisScreenplay:
Barry L. LevyCinematography:
Amir MokriComposer:
Atli ÖrvarssonCast:
Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, Bruce McGill, Edgar Ramirez, Saïd Taghmaoui, Ayelet Zurer, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Tense, political thriller that follows an assassination attempt on the president of the United States. While visiting Spain to attend a global summit on terrorism, the American president is shot, causing instant panic and confusion in the watching crowd. Amongst them, tourist Howard Lewis (Forest Whitaker) has videotaped what he believes to be the gunman, and brings it to the attention of the secret service agents present. The story then unfolds from the perspective of five witnesses, each following events immediately prior to and after the assassination, each one supplying a piece of the puzzle, until the final shocking truth can be revealed. (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
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Reviews (11)
All the characters look like templates: the heroic president, the cool bodyguard, the good natured black man, the cute little girl, the hardened terrorist and others similar to him. All of them take part in a interesting action flick whose subordination to the mainstream is indisputable, notwithstanding the good idea of repeating the same moment. If you can put up with that, you’ll have more than enough fun for an hour and a half. The final car chase looks good, but it felt a little like déjà vu… no wonder, yesterday I watched Bourne. If Vantage Point was less naive and more uncompromising and tougher, it could get five stars, I really like films that play with time.
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I've been thinking about the rating for a long time, but in the end I'll be good again and give this film a thumbs up – Vantage Point doesn’t deserve to be slagged. It's true that from a filmmaking point of view it doesn't bring anything new and the serious premise is unpleasantly distorted by American exaggeration and jingoism, but for the ordinary popcorn viewer this film is a feast for which it's definitely worth making space and time. A big plus is the adequate runtime, which keeps the director constantly on his heels and forces him to keep a high speed, and then of course the actors around Quaid and Whitaker, whose roles may not have any great depth, but every viewer feels immediately more comfortable when looking at their faces. But I can say that I would have felt just as satisfied maybe even with a bunch of unknown actors, because Travis managed to create a very unpretentious and entertaining thriller that will probably make you change your mind if you ever want to be president.
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8 perspectives? You don’t say... Paul Greengrass: “Wow, I think I’m having a déjà vu." Screenwriter Barry Levy: “Hey, Director, I finished. I worked really hard on it at the beginning, but then I went at it a bit haywire, you know how it is with tequila. But don’t worry, the big cliché at the finale will cover that up. Why don’t you try a ten-minute car chase through the city? Your the king of your craft, boss, I got to hand it to you." Real American: “Oh, that’s a good movie, evil Spanish people allow terrorism on their soil? So, kill them all!" Spanish Spanish guitar player: “First I would like to appeal to our American amigos not to treat us like terrorists. Why did those evil American filmmakers have to choose our beautiful country to commit such a contemptible act? And I’ll say this much about the music: I wouldn’t play it alone, but it suits movies of this sort perfectly." Akira Kurosawa: “Interesting idea. It reminds me a bit of a story by Akutagawa. That would be worth filming!" Regular 24 viewer: “Good, almost like a double episode of Jack Bauer, the only difference is that the immortal agent is played by a 54-year-old Dennis Quaid. So it ain’t worth watchin’." Nitpicker: “Water! Water! I feel faint, so many hiccups and illogicalities! Take the last shot. A “bug" taxi typical for Mexico City drives past, the camera rises higher and there’s a forcefully grafted-on panorama of Salamanca with a departing CGI chopper. Yuck..." Terrorist: “The beginning is nice and explosive, but it went wrong again. Oooh, missus!" But only one of them can be right. Who? DaViD´82:, of course: “Watch, don’t get bored, finish watching and forget it. Simply a solid and inoffensive piece of popcorn routine."
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It's perfectly heroic, overwhelmingly pro-American, and predictable in detail. Yet given the ridiculous money spent on it, the director got it moving in a high-octane style that doesn't let up whatsoever. And when you cast Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, and Edgar Ramirez as uncompromising tough guys with guns in their hands, you can't go wrong. I’m very satisfied and it gets a strong 3 ½ stars from me. I will definitely watch it again, especially given its short runtime.
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"Pete, let's throw in an unorthodox time loop, a Bourne-esque car chase, a cute guy from Lost, and an elite cast that's not yet a write-off, and it'll work." It's out of your head before you walk down the back row of the multiplex stairs. At the beginning, the repetitive time loop seems a bit tiresome, but as time goes on, the increasingly convoluted plot manages to at least activate the jaded senses of the tired viewer. The short runtime (one hour and twenty without credits) and the abrupt ending proves that 40 million is really not much for an action flick :o)
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Gallery (35)
Photo © Columbia Pictures
![Vantage Point - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/162/764/162764082_7328d6.jpg)
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