DVD Review: Vantage Point

What can one say about a film that has an interesting premise, carries it out poorly, and finally completely abandons it?  It is disappointing to be sure, but how much credit should be given for having the good idea?  Is director Pete Travis's Vantage Point worth watching for the kernel of the idea or should it be abandoned due to its poor execution?

On the positive side, the film features an outstanding cast, including:  Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, Sigourney Weaver, and William Hurt.  However, even the cast, and a truly swell car cash in the final minutes of the film, cannot save this mess of a thriller.

The basic plot follows an assassination attempt on the President of the United States (Hurt) during a counter-terrorism conference in Salamanca, Spain.  The viewer is shown the events leading up to and following the assassination from multiple individuals' (both involved and not) points of view.  Or, at least, that's what it's supposed to be.  After showing the events from several, points of view ranging from interesting, to outlandish, to boring, the film completely abandons that narrative structure to reveal the even more silly "reality" of the situation. 

At the center of everything in the film is Secret Service Agent Thomas Barnes (Quaid), who is back on the Presidential detail after taking a bullet while preventing an assassination attempt six months previously.  It is Barnes who ends up tracking down the culprits and, as much as anyone, cracking the case.  In actuality though, much of what Barnes accomplishes he does through sheer luck. 

Along the way, Barnes is aided by Howard Lewis (Whitaker), an American who happens to be at the event with his HD video camera and news producer Rex Brooks (Weaver) and her team.  It is through watching the various videos these people have that Barnes is able to spot problems and culprits (not that the viewer gets shown the salient points until well later in the film).  The various video angles that Barnes has access to so rapidly that just happen to have filmed the right thing at the right moment seem a tad too fortuitous, but the fact that Barnes can't spot one the main culprits without them, ridiculous (and the other bad guys just kind of fall into his lap).

Article Author: Josh Lasser

Josh Lasser, formerly known as "TV and Film Guy," and complete with a Masters Degree in Critical Studies in said areas, gives his opinions on TV, Film, and Entertainment in general. All of which he does in a shameless attempt to try to get paid to do the exact same thing. …

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