Vantage Point Fails to Make Point

By Broadside Staff Writer Ross Bonaime

Sony Pictures latest release Vantage Point, starring Matthew Fox from We Are Marshall and TV's Lost, and Dennis Quaid from In Good Company and The Rookie, tries hard to be a compelling thriller, but it just misses the mark. The film is about an attempted presidential assassination at a groundbreaking conference in Salamanca, Spain that ends up being filtered through eight different character perspectives. The attack is seen through the eyes of several people, including veteran bodyguard Thomas Barnes played by Quaid, his partner Kent Taylor played by Fox, an American tourist played by Forrest Whitaker from The Last King of Scotland and The Great Debaters, a television producer covering the event played by Sigourney Weaver from Alien, and even the President of the United States played by William Hurt from A History of Violence and Syriana.

With each different person's perspective being shown, the story begins all over again, which is an interesting gimmick initially, but proves to be the movie’s biggest weakness.

Vantage Point fails to retell the story to the audience in a diverse way. While some films succeed in trying to make the same scene as engrossing as the first time it was introduced, such as Atonement, which made watching the same scene over and over again a joyous occasion, Vantage Point falls flat on its face and never recovers.

The characters are a clichéd bunch that seem like they were taken from television shows like 24 and Boomtown. Director Pete Travis and writer Barry Levy both have backgrounds in television which is apparent throughout the film. The style of directing combines usage of handheld and conventional cameras that are very reminiscent of 24. The show’s influence is obvious in every aspect of the film. Vantage Point's idea of showing the film through all of the main characters' eyes is taken directly from Boomtown and its idea of counting down the time that is repeated once again reeks of influence from 24 and movies like Nick of Time and Run Lola Run.

With personas like the guard getting a second chance, the president's cabinet member who tries to force his will on the president and the idealistic reporter, Vantage Point recycles characters that are already too familiar and almost laughable when meant to be taken seriously. The film takes some genuinely great actors, such as Quaid and Whitaker, and places them in roles that are a waste of their talent.

The writing tries to be poignant with its warnings of oncoming terrorist attacks and our policies towards other nations, but these parts just seem tacked on. The script thinks it’s more suspenseful than it really is and some twists and turns end up not being as surprising at it may seem.

The film is repetitive for the first three-fourths, then tries to wrap up all of its loose ends weakly at the very end. The script seems very banal and almost seems like a forgettable late night cable movie. With a film like this, the editing needs to be very specific and distinct, not sloppy, which turned out to be the product in this case.

Vantage Point is a decent film. While all the elements have been seen before, together they make for a watchable movie that does have its share of action and is able to keep the audience interested long enough to stick it out, but it never seemed to fix the flaws that plague it. The action builds quite slowly and ends with an unoriginal and unsurprising climax that seems obvious the further the film goes on. Vantage Point has enough to warrant a viewing, but once just may be enough. Vantage Point is out in theaters nationwide.