Cue the reel: The president of the United States has been shot, and terrorists have detonated two bombs only moments apart. As Secret Service Agent Thomas Barnes hectically watches a tape of the incident, he sees something that absolutely shocks him – but it isn’t revealed. Instead, the clock turns back, and the mystery is left unresolved as the preceding events are once again played out, but this time, they’re from another character’s perspective.
The distinctive plot structure of Vantage Point allows the audience to witness the film’s chaotic events from eight different viewpoints. As the characters’ story lines intersect amid the exhilarating action, the scattered pieces of the narrative puzzle fall together in what turns out to be a well-crafted thriller from first-time film director Pete Travis (Omagh).
Set in Salamanca, Spain, Vantage Point takes place during a landmark summit designed to put a “stranglehold on terrorism.” But the festive event is thrust into chaos when President Ashton (William Hurt, Mr. Brooks) is shot shortly after his arrival. While Barnes (Dennis Quaid, American Dreamz) and his fellow agent, Kent Taylor (Matthew Fox, Lost), look for the shooter, an undercover Spanish policeman (Eduardo Noriega, Alatriste) desperately tries to warn them of imminent danger.
Howard Lewis (Forest Whitaker, The Great Debaters), an American tourist who thinks he caught the assassin on his camcorder, and Rex Brooks (Sigourney Weaver, The Girl in the Park), a television producer covering the event, also find themselves involved in the immediate aftermath of a shooting that has worldwide implications.
With each character’s account comes new revelations about the attack’s underlying secrets, but it is not until the film’s climax that all of the plot threads come together. Not surprisingly, Vantage Point thrives on this dynamic, as writer Barry Levy’s first screenplay effectively uses the unique structure to create a gripping story. However, repeat viewings may be necessary to truly appreciate the movie, as Travis places subtle hints throughout that only make sense when a scene is shown again from a different point of view.
Regrettably, the film only clocks in at a brisk 90 minutes, and one can’t help but think that Vantage Point’s complex plot would have benefited from a lengthier runtime. With so many characters to explain and analyze, a simple lack of development reduces several potentially interesting figures to one-dimensional stereotypes.
Despite this blemish, Vantage Point is still an incredibly enjoyable film, partially thanks to the action sequences. Channeling his inner Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum), Travis utilizes handheld camera techniques to engage the audience by putting them right into the action.
As for those who expect to see political commentary because Vantage Point’s premise touches on sensitive subject matter, it is true that antiwar sentiment can occasionally be found in the film. But by no means is it a predominant aspect of Vantage Point – Travis keeps the focus on the story at hand.
Vantage Point’s influences are directly tied to the 1950 film, Rashômon, in which director Akira Kurosawa presents the same event from four different perspectives. In more recent years, films with similar chronologically jumbled plots such as Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill have thrived commercially, further paving the way for the success of a movie like Vantage Point. Although Travis’ thriller may not match the high standards set by those films, there should be little denying that it is still a very respectable effort.
tfloyd1@umd.edu
RATING: 3.5 STARS OUT OF 5
