Vantage Point

Directed by: Pete Travis

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, William Hurt, Sigourny Weaver, Forrest Whitaker

Synopsis:

At a public ceremony in Spain, the President of the United States is shot. Following rhe perspective of different people before, during and after the shooting, we are able to discover what truly happened...

Review:

FORGET THE NAY-SAYERS - this is prime quality action fare! Yes, there are one or two too many coincidences, and some people might get fed up with the many screen wipes that reset the clock as we follow a different set of eyes. BUT, even taking that into account, this is a serious thrill ride.

The movie opens in the control room of the US tv network, where Sigourney Weaver is pulling together her coverage of the President's speech. It is through their perspective that we see the initial shocks which will act as bookmarks for most of the running time of the movie, although each time the clock is reset, we end up seeing a little more, and a little more.

The cast is to die for. I'm sure the allure of a few weeks in Spain probably helped, but still! It seems a long time since Dennis Quaid was in anything worth watching, probably not since Any Given Sunday. Here he plays the experienced Secret Service agent, just returned to active duty since saving the president's life a year ago. Matthew Fox still seems a bit young to be on presidential detail, but his character goes through some interesting changes.

The only real problem with the structure of the movie is that, for the first half at least, it always cuts back to the beginning just when things are getting really exciting. This does tend to make the audience's attention drop a little at each rewind (yeah yeah, the president's been shot, but what's new?). However it redeems itself by not only giving us new info and twists each time, but also shows low-key events as being more important.

I'm purposely keeping plot details to a minimum here, but the movie opens and closes with some interesting comments about the US Media's coverage of world-wide events and how they are presented, and begs the question as to what is perceived to be more fearful to the American public - a lone gunman, or covert conspiracy?

Verdict:

If you can forgive the uneven pacing and one or two coincidences, this is an action packed thrill ride that demands the audience to keep up with what's going on.

8 out of 10 (Review by MikeOutWest)