Vantage Point

Coming Soon

to Sky Movies

Director: Pete Travis

Stars: Dennis Quaid, Forest Whitaker, Matthew Fox, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver

Year: 2008 Running Time: 89 mins Rating:

An anti-terror summit in Salamanca gets off to the worst possible start when the US president (William Hurt) is shot in a crowded plaza. In this frenetic fusion of The Day of the Jackal, Rashomon and 24, the incident is shown from the perspectives of various people at the scene, including news producer Sigourney Weaver, Forest Whitaker’s tourist, bodyguards Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox – and even the president himself. An explosive thriller that hits rewind more often than pause.

Review

President Ashton is in Spain to talk tough on terror, and Rex Brooks (Weaver) and her TV news crew are there to cover the event for the folks back home.

Aside from a local cameraman pointing the wrong way and reporter Angie (Zoe Saldana) straying off script, it’s a routine gig. But hey – isn’t that Tom Barnes (Quaid), the Secret Service hero who saved Ashton’s life last year?

Still, all eyes are on the president… Oh my god! He’s been shot! Angie, what’s happening? Oh my god! Was that an explosion? Angie...? Angie!

Rewind 23 minutes and we’re with Tom Barnes as he prepares to shepherd Ashton to his public address. He’s twitchy about being back on the job so soon after taking a bullet for the boss, but fellow bodyguard Taylor (Fox) has got his back.

Unfortunately neither of them sees what’s coming… and with a bang-bang-kaboom we’re back at high noon with American tourist Howard Lewis (Whitaker) who’s busily camcording everything from fluttering curtains to dodgy locals.

Stop. Rewind. 3…2…1… now here’s Spanish cop Javier (The Bourne Ultimatum’s Edgar Ramirez), acting strangely and wondering what his girlfriend is doing with that shifty-looking stranger.

Noon again and we’re following events through Ashton’s eyes. Then we see it all from the angle of the perpetrator (or perpetrators). Bit by bit, the jigsaw comes together.

Daft as it inevitably becomes, Vantage Point is never dull. Approach it like a double-bill of 24 and there’s enough excitement to overcome the clichés, particularly during the climactic car chase.

The multiple-viewpoint gimmick is also nicely executed. After setting the bar with 1950’s Rashomon, Akira Kurasawa has a lot to answer for. But thankfully this is closer to Courage Under Fire than Basic.

It'll liven up a dull night... whichever way you look at it.