Movie review: Vantage Point
Patrick Coholan
Issue date: 2/26/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Vantage Point is a film that tells the story of a major anti-terrorist summit that goes wrong. There are a number of well-liked actors in this film, including Dennis Quaid as a heroic Secret Service guard whose job is to safeguard the President.
Last year's Oscar winner for Best Actor for The Last King of Scotland, Forest Whitaker, appears as a tourist who is enjoying the summit until terrorism strikes. Sigourney Weaver appears as a member of the media making sure every aspect of the President's speech is caught on film and packaged for cable news television.
The acting is effective, although I had some trouble believing the role of William Hurt as the President. It was a difficult playing ground for these actors given the demands for authenticity to make an improbable story seem real. While many of the characterizations were very skillfully executed, Hurt's pivotal role as the President was undermined by the intensity of the crowd scenes at the summit and in the city, as well as by the other cast members' dynamic and heartfelt effort.
The film uses the narrative known as a "Rashomon", named for a 1950 Japanese film. In a Rashomon, events are repeatedly shown from different perspectives to reveal a more complete account. This film uses the technique with an on-screen clock that repeatedly takes us back to noon on the day of the summit. The assassination attempt on the President is presented in different layers, as more and more of the complete plot line comes to light, given more and more sequences of events which are connected to the assassination plot.
The film moves along speedily, and once the initial concept of the shifts in narrative time become established, it is easy to follow the story as the consequences of and reasons for the assassination attempt become clear.
Even as we watch the backwards-moving shots that indicate that time is moving back to noon, we are pulled inside an imaginary world of high-intensity, technologically-sophisticated cat and mouse. Every time the on-screen clock indicates that the story is beginning again, it wakes us up to the question of what is going on and asks whether justice will be served.
I liked the dramatic conflicts and tension within the plot, and the inclusion of television news footage and home video footage used to help tell the story were an interesting side dish.
Within the plot are a number of twists that hang on different visions of the same action. These were neatly bundled inserts into an action-packed movie. The storyline relies on these to help advance the action, as well as the more overt device of literally backing things up in the story and showing us events again from various perspectives.
I recommend the film for fans of political action themes; in that light the film becomes an effective variation on a familiar Hollywood plot, the Secret Service and the safety of the President.
Last year's Oscar winner for Best Actor for The Last King of Scotland, Forest Whitaker, appears as a tourist who is enjoying the summit until terrorism strikes. Sigourney Weaver appears as a member of the media making sure every aspect of the President's speech is caught on film and packaged for cable news television.
The acting is effective, although I had some trouble believing the role of William Hurt as the President. It was a difficult playing ground for these actors given the demands for authenticity to make an improbable story seem real. While many of the characterizations were very skillfully executed, Hurt's pivotal role as the President was undermined by the intensity of the crowd scenes at the summit and in the city, as well as by the other cast members' dynamic and heartfelt effort.
The film uses the narrative known as a "Rashomon", named for a 1950 Japanese film. In a Rashomon, events are repeatedly shown from different perspectives to reveal a more complete account. This film uses the technique with an on-screen clock that repeatedly takes us back to noon on the day of the summit. The assassination attempt on the President is presented in different layers, as more and more of the complete plot line comes to light, given more and more sequences of events which are connected to the assassination plot.
The film moves along speedily, and once the initial concept of the shifts in narrative time become established, it is easy to follow the story as the consequences of and reasons for the assassination attempt become clear.
Even as we watch the backwards-moving shots that indicate that time is moving back to noon, we are pulled inside an imaginary world of high-intensity, technologically-sophisticated cat and mouse. Every time the on-screen clock indicates that the story is beginning again, it wakes us up to the question of what is going on and asks whether justice will be served.
I liked the dramatic conflicts and tension within the plot, and the inclusion of television news footage and home video footage used to help tell the story were an interesting side dish.
Within the plot are a number of twists that hang on different visions of the same action. These were neatly bundled inserts into an action-packed movie. The storyline relies on these to help advance the action, as well as the more overt device of literally backing things up in the story and showing us events again from various perspectives.
I recommend the film for fans of political action themes; in that light the film becomes an effective variation on a familiar Hollywood plot, the Secret Service and the safety of the President.
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