One film, multiple points of view, one event: this is the premise of the new action film, Vantage Point. The film begins with President Ashton (William Hurt) speaking at a peace summit in Spain in order to take major steps toward defeating terrorism. Just as Ashton steps to a podium to speak, he is shot, and moments later a bomb explodes in a nearby Spanish town square. The film then transitions to its characters’ different points of view, including those of President Ashton, a Secret Service Agent who formerly took a bullet for Ashton (Dennis Quaid), a suspicious local (Said Taghmaoui), an undercover Spanish cop (Edgar Ramirez) and an American tourist (Forest Whitaker).
Unfortunately, while the concept is original, the execution is far from perfect and the film is mediocre at best. Some of the stylistic choices hamper the film. For example, every time the film switches to another perspective, the actions on screen rewind, flash to white, and then fade to a clock strike that is reminiscent of the cheap gimmick used by the over-sensational show 24. While this transition can be interesting once, it quickly becomes very frustrating.
The acting is also mostly mediocre, but there are some bright spots. Matthew Fox transcends his solid role in Lost and branches out as an actor, and despite the so-so material with which he has to work, he ultimately pulls his role off. Quaid also shows that he can do the same if given the right part. Hurt, while not bad, seems a bit uncomfortable in his role. Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker’s character and storyline are sadly the most mediocre and should have been cut from the film.
As an action film, this film is underwhelming up until the last 20 to 30 minutes. Before that point, the film relies too much on its structure and on trying to make connections between the characters that it sometimes drags or feels disjointed. Ironically, the last 30 minutes are the most linear part of the film, which may make the audience wonder why the film utilized multiple perspectives at all.
Sadly, Vantage Point is an interesting idea, but not really a film to rush out and see.
Vantage Point is rated PG-13 for sequences of intense violence and action, some disturbing images and brief strong language.
