“You know when the main climactic event of the film occurs within the first 6 minutes, this is not a movie bent on making you appreciate the finer points of film making, or one determined to make you think at all. Quite frankly, if you stroll into the theater hoping for a deep viewing experience, you’ll be more than slightly disappointed.”
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You know when the main climactic event of the film occurs within the first 6 minutes, this is not a movie bent on making you appreciate the finer points of film making, or one determined to make you think at all.

Quite frankly, if you stroll into the theater hoping for a deep viewing experience, you’ll be more than slightly disappointed.

But if you’re satisfied with relentless explosion-filled, bullet-riddled high octane political thrillers with no weight whatsoever, Vantage Point will blow you away.

Told from the perspective of 8 different strangers a 8 different times, Vantage Point opens with the worldwide telecast of an anti-terrorism summit.

When the President of the United States is shot down in front of millions of viewers, the race is on to find the masterminds behind this deadly plot.

The reel begins to roll as a newscast team begins their coverage of this momentous event.

Rex Brooks (Sigourney Weaver) is running the show from her trailer outside of the plaza where the address will be held.

Her star reporter Angie Jones (Zoe Saldana) stands amongst the hundreds of supporters filing into the main event.

The scene rapidly ufolds; negating any unnecessary subplots or gratuitous character development and the assassination plot is unveiled.

Explosion after explosion occurs and the body count begins to rise.

Then freeze frame.

Rewind the last few minutes in a matter of seconds.

Replay.

The same scene begins to unfold, this time from the perspective of Dennis Quaid.

Quaid plays Thomas Barnes, a secret service agent on assignment for the President as one of his main flanking officers.

Matthew Fox (ABC’s LOST) takes the opposite post as Agent Kent Taylor.

This summit is Barnes’s first detailed assignment in almost a year following a previous assassination attempt where he took the bullet for President Ashton ( William Hurt).

Now back in the spotlight with thoughts of his past driving him to anxiety, Barnes must remain sharp in the midst of this mayhem following the gunshots and explosions.

The shot is fired, the bomb is deployed, the pandemonium begins all over again.

Freeze.

Rewind.

Repeat.

With the clock restarting at noon with every repetition, the movie gives an additional perspective from the eyes of a man touring the country (Forest Whitaker) who catches the whole event on his handycam.

Add in the story of Enrique, a man in charge of protecting the Mayor of this Spanish city. He realizes that no one around him may be trusted, including the love of his life.

Two final perspectives are given; the terrorists and the President himself. There’s only one catch to his story: he was never even at the conference. (No worries – that’s not a spoiler – it’s in the trailer).

For these 8 strangers, it’s a matter of life and death to figure out who is behind this plot before it’s too late.

If you go in expecting nothing, as I did, then you can’t very well be disappointed.

Director Pete Travis does a fine job of keeping the viewer on the edge of their seats.

For having to watch the same scene over and over, Travis manages to give you unique-enough pieces of the puzzle so that you never feel you’re watching the same scene twice.

The music is heart-pounding and the acting is up to par (as up to par as a movie of this caliber – or lack -thereof – requires).

Overall, this capricious little thriller is a great way to forget the miserable cold outside.

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