Vantage Point (2008)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Pete Travis

Writer (WGA):

Barry Levy (written by)

Release Date:

22 February 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

8 Strangers. 8 Points of View. 1 Truth.

Plot:

The attempted assassination of the American President is told and re-told from several different perspectives.

Plot Keywords:

President | Secret Service | Agent | Secret Service Agent | Salamanca Spain

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Dennis Quaid	...	Thomas Barnes
Matthew Fox	...	Kent Taylor
Forest Whitaker	...	Howard Lewis
Bruce McGill	...	Phil McCullough
Édgar Ramírez	...	Javier (as Edgar Ramirez)
Saïd Taghmaoui	...	Suarez
Ayelet Zurer	...	Veronica
Zoe Saldana	...	Angie Jones (as Zoë Saldana)
Sigourney Weaver	...	Rex Brooks
William Hurt	...	President Ashton
James LeGros	...	Ted Heinkin (as James Le Gros)
Eduardo Noriega	...	Enrique
Richard T. Jones	...	Holden
Holt McCallany	...	Ron Matthews
Leonardo Nam	...	Kevin Cross

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense violence and action, some disturbing images and brief strong language.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Finland:K-13 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Hong Kong:IIA | Malaysia:U | Norway:15 | Australia:M | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Singapore:PG | USA:PG-13 (certificate #42768) | Ireland:12A | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Germany:12 | Sweden:11 | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:13 | Taiwan:PG-12 | UK:12A | Malta:12 | Greece:K-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Brazil:14 | Peru:14 | Canada:14A | New Zealand:M

Filming Locations:

Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico

Company:

Columbia Pictures

Trivia:

There were talks between the studio and the Salamanca Film Commision to shoot the entire film in the Spanish city, but it was considered inviable after the local authorities refused to close the Plaza Mayor during nearly 3 months. As a result, the production was moved to the Mexican cities of Cuernavaca and Puebla. Only the scenes filmed from the air were shot in the real Salamanca.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the car chase between the police car and Barnes in the Astra the same red Volkswagen Golf (Rabbit) keeps reappearing.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Mark Reinhart: Good morning, America. It's now 12 noon in Salamanca, Spain. In a short time, world leaders from over 150 countries meet here in Plaza Mayor to sign up to President Ashton's bold new counterterrorist strategy. Since 9/11, more than 4500 people have been killed in the rising tide of global terror...

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2008-02-23)" (2008)

Surprisingly good from my vantage point

I must admit I went into the theatre interested, but skeptical. Slowly, I got drawn into things, and by the time the we were at the fourth vantage point, I was fascinated by how all the stories interrelated with each other, and wondering the story would end up.

The acting is uniformly excellent, especially that of Dennis Quaid, who I had previously considered a mostly comic actor, but is very convincing here as a Secret Service agent.

The direction and script are also excellent, especially when you consider both are first-timers in the world of feature films. The script was not without its clichés, but I didn't see most of the plot twists coming, which I can usually spot coming a mile away in a film like this. There was one real groaner of a plot twist that you'd have to be an idiot not to see, but it goes by so fast that it doesn't really matter.

A lot of the audience in the screening I was at got frustrated by the repeated sections, obviously having no attention span. But once the third act of the film kicks into gear, everybody stopped complaining.

Speaking of which, the third act is the payoff which we've all been waiting for. Seeing all the plot threads converge in such a convincing matter was nice, as was the final action scene, which seems like it was plucked right out of one of the Bourne films. This comes as little surprise, since director Pete Travis and Bourne series director Paul Greengrass have worked together in the past.

As skeptical as I had gone in, I came out impressed. Not since The Bourne Ultimatum have I seen such a convincing, engrossing action thriller.