This past weekend, Marcia and I watched “Vantage Point” starring Dennis Quaid, William Hurt, Forest Whitaker, Matthew Fox, Edgar Ramirez, Saïd Taghmaoui, Eduardo Noriega, Ayelet Zurer, and Sigourney Weaver.
The following is the description found at Amazon.Com, though obviously written by the studio itself:
During an historic counter-terrorism summit in Spain the President of the United States is struck down by an assassin’s bullet. Eight strangers have a perfect view of the kill but what did they really see? As the minutes leading up to the fatal shot are replayed through the eyes of each eyewitness the reality of the assassination takes shape. But just when you think you know the answer the shattering final truth is revealed.
When we saw the trailers for this the first time around, I scoffed at it. Marcia liked what she saw. To me, it looked like it was going to be over hyped, and too unrealistic. We have gone almost thirty years since the last legitimate assassination attempt on the President (sure, mistakes can happen). But I gave into the idea of seeing it on video.
As with a lot of movies I have seen recently, it seems the ones that are supposed to be so very good turn out to be just OK, while ones that I didn’t expect much from turned out to be entertaining. Sure, there were unbelievable things happening in this movie. However, it still came together well, and I didn’t have to suspend my disbelief very far. Mostly because I got sucked into what was happening.
Like was said on the main review at Amazon, the characters are just there. There is some background to it, but it’s just for dramatic effect. It certainly doesn’t play out during the movie. There is no motivation from any of those perpetrating the assassination attempt. It is just assumed. Character driven this movie is not.
There are quite a few things that the characters find out that are hidden to the viewer. In some respects this is annoying. They are tricks to keep it exciting. They worked to a point, being revealed at the proper time. This teasing though was quickly quieted when the next “vantage point” would be shown.
Another aspect of the movie that wasn’t there, and thankfully so, was the sight of carnage. We have an assassination attempt, and other terrorist attacks happening. Big body count. Really no blood and/or gore at all. It was about the story (even with weak characters) and not the artistic glory to add to the “realism.” Bravo! to the directors and producers for leaving that aspect behind to concentrate on giving us a thriller, and not a bloody one.
Clocking in at under an hour and a half, it certainly was a worthwhile rental. Not all caught up in itself. Just a good thriller.
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