Today’s quick review: Vantage Point. While speaking at a terrorism conference in Spain, the President of the United States (William Hurt) is shot and a bomb is detonated at the plaza where he was speaking. In the aftermath of the attack, the eyewitnesses attempt to piece together exactly what happened in time to catch the attackers. These witnesses include a bodyguard to the president (Dennis Quaid), a tourist (Forest Whitaker), and a local cop (Eduardo Noriega).
Vantage Point is an action thriller with an unusual premise. The film shows the same events from multiple perspectives, replaying the same hour over and over but following a different character each time. As the characters’ paths branch and intersect, a picture begins to emerge of just who was responsible for the assassination and whether they can still be caught.
Most of Vantage Point’s appeal comes from this premise: a puzzle thriller that draws the audience along with the promise of revelations yet to come. The movie controls its information carefully, ordering its characters to save the best revelations for last. The action helps keep the adrenaline level up, mostly chase scenes and races against the clock rather than actual combat.
All these virtues run aground on the same problem: the central mystery is weak. The unconventional storytelling structure prevents the movie from having much in the way of setup or character development, and without these elements, the drama falls flat. The point of the movie is never all that clear: the damage has been done, the characters are acting on instinct, and there are enough fake-outs and coincidences to rob the movie of its sense of satisfaction.
Watch Vantage Point if you are in the mood for a decent thriller with an experimental premise. The movie falls well short of its potential, but it builds up a good sense of momentum by the end, and both Forest Whitaker and Dennis Quaid deliver solid performances. Most thriller fans will be better off watching Salt, Deja Vu, or a more conventional thriller with better execution.
6.6 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.5 for an interesting premise with mediocre execution.