Forest Whitaker, Dennis Quaid, William Hurt, and Matthew Fox star in director Pete Travis' Rashomon-style thriller in which an assassination attempt on the president of the United States is detailed from five unique perspectives. As the president arrives in Salamanca, gunshots ring out. An American tourist (Whitaker) has captured footage of the would-be assassin on videotape, and now, as the stories of the other four witnesses unfold, each essential piece of the puzzle quickly falls into place.
Only when all of the stories are told will the chilling truth to this shocking crime finally emerge. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
While the title, trailer and commercials imply that we'll be carefully piecing together clues to a complex assassination attempt as seen from several perspectives, the final product turns out to be a tepid thriller that promises more than it delivers.
When everything is finally revealed, the story Vantage Point tells is fairly pedestrian, and nothing special is gained from all the stopping and restarting.
An overplotted, gimmicky presidential-assassination thriller, its interlocking pieces have to fit just so for it to stay coherent and ratchet up the tension.
Vantage Point is the type of film that will blow some people away, while others will be left thinking there's too much rubble, and feeling like maybe they've just been had.
In the 2-disc DVD, helmer Pete Travis discusses the movies that inspired him, such as the Bourne franchise and The French Connection, and there is a nice featurette, a digital copy that you can download onto a laptop or PS3.
Asks us to believe the terrorists would, after slaughtering countless people, risk their entire plan--and their very lives--on...well, I won't say. But from my vantage point, it was ridiculous.
Surveillance cinema at its best, with audience attention span on high alert, camcorders and palm pilots elbowing their way in, and plenty of optic nerve to spare.
If you thought 24's perspective on terrorism was, well, limited, get ready to groan. The meat and potatoes of Vantage Point -- the suicide bomb explosions, the bloody fisticuffs and blaring car chases -- are indeed awesome, and that's what truly matters f
Those inclined to scrutinize the logic of Barry Levy's screenplay are likely to come away as baffled by its farfetched twists as amused by its bombastic excesses.
Vantage Point takes a pretty high concept, dribbles a bunch of red herrings all over it, and makes things go boom, reaping better yields than the average TV show.
A completely new concept to me to film the movie shooting the same part from several different characters views till you ran it all together at the end. A good action ride and kept me watching the whole time.
An average storyline but an entertaining thriller. By no means impressive but the way the story was told was actually quite well done. It is cleverly told by different characters perspectives and is suspenseful like a good action thriller should be.
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