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Stop
trying so hard to entertain me!!!
Here we have an unholy mess of a film -- a
plot that plays out over a fifteen to twenty
minute time frame. To stretch the
proceedings out to the full running length,
the movie makes an abrupt rewind every ten
minutes or so to tell the story from a
different "Vantage Point". Ahhh... very
clever indeed.
The short episode is a frantic assassination
attempt on the President of the United
States (POTUS) while delivering a speech
amidst a sea of protestors in the heart of
Salamanca, Spain. First there is a shooting.
Then a small explosion. Then a large
explosion. Then another shooting. Then some
car chases. Then a runaway 10-yr old girl is
added for a little manufactured drama, just
in case the rest of the insanity wasn't
doing it for you.
The story is told from multiple perspectives
-- a Secret Service agent played with
extreme intensity by Dennis Quaid -- a
wide-eyed tourist played by Forrest Whitaker
-- the President (William Hurt) even gets to
watch his own assassination in a bizarre
twist that is blatantly given away by the
trailers -- and the assassins even get some
screen time as we watch their plans
meticulously unfold in layered fashion. The
audience is dosed with new information every
few minutes as we gradually put all the
pieces together.
The frustrating result undermines a pretty
nifty premise as the action devolves into
one messy chase scene after another during
the final act. The film never lives up to
the brilliance of its potential. Surely we
could have been treated to a shocking reveal
of some sort? Surely we could have been
witness to one of the great twisty plots of
all time? Surely we could have avoided
watching a car chase movie? Tell me this
film doesn't wave bye bye to the "Vantage
Point" scenario just so it can give us what
we've seen in a thousand other action films!
Ugh -- By the end of the film, it has all
become so typical and routine that we resent
the initial tease for getting our hopes up.
Even the action scenes aren't particularly
well done -- employing the age old technique
of blurring and cutting everything so much
that we can't keep up.
I did like a few of the performances.
Matthew Fox has movie star quality and
doesn't disappoint. Forrest Whitaker is
typically solid. I loved the inclusion of
Ayelet Zurer ("Munich") -- hers was the best
performance in the film and I am sure that
we will see this lovely Israeli actress in
many more upcoming films.
"Vantage Point" is all foreplay... which
wouldn't be so bad if it had had the decency
to dump a bucket of ice cold water on us at
the end. Unfortunately, it leaves us limp,
blowing in the wind, as we get treated to a
typical night of pleasuring ourselves with
the notions of what might have been.
©
Written by TC Candler |
Director
Pete
Travis
Cast
Ayelet
Zorer
Dennis Quaid
Forest Whitaker
Matthew Fox
Sigourney Weaver
William Hurt
Zoe Saldana
Running Time
90m
Rated
PG13
Official
Website
n/a |
