Vantage Point (2008)

An Interesting Movie.
This is an interesting movie as it rewinds to the beginning at least five times and while it gets annoying, I understand why it was done and done in a good way.

We get to see how the events unfol from other people's perspective. I was even surprised at who the main guy was that was pulling the strings. I did not see this coming. Also, the action starts right away which I liked. It is something that you rarely see these days.

All in all, a great night out at the movies.

Wheels within wheels, Rashomon
Don't ever sign up for a presidential "look alike" contest.
Rashomon is a 1950 film directed by Akira Kurosawa in which witnesses
see different things/ tell different tales about the same event.
"The Manchurian Candidate" about doppelgangers has been made several time,too. In this film the same 3 minutes are played over and over
from the point of view ( Vantage Point) of several people.
It isn't until near the end that it becomes clear how convoluted the plot
to kill or kidnap the president is. An the unexpected event sets of the chain of events that foils the plot. Well made, well acted, well filmed
and well written

"Rashomon" crossed with "Groundhog Day"
***1/2

As its title suggests, "Vantage Point" is all about the unique perspective each of us brings to the events we witness. To explore this theme, the movie employs the old "Rashomon" technique of telling the same story from the viewpoint of a half dozen or so characters present at the scene. The incident in this case is the attempted assassination of the President of the United States at an anti-terrorism summit being held in Salamanca, Spain, an event at which two massive bombs are also detonated. In Barry Levy`s screenplay, each angle of the story functions much like an individual piece in a giant jigsaw puzzle, the full picture of which comes fully clear only after each element has been successfully fitted and secured in its proper place.

"Vantage Point" features a large cast of well-known actors, including William Hurt as the President; Dennis Quaid and Michael Fox as secret service agents; Sigourney Weaver as a TV news producer; Forest Whitaker as an American tourist; Zoe Saldana as a news reporter; and Eduardo Noriega, Edgar Ramirez and Ayelet Zurer as Spanish terrorists (the Spaniards definitely get the short end of the stick in this movie).

Despite the deliberately fragmented nature of the narrative, the main focus of the film falls on Quaid's character, an agent who less than a year earlier took a bullet for the President and who is now returning to his job an obviously shaken and high strung man.

Directed by Pete Travis, "Vantage Point" is a high octane political thriller that gets the job done without ever distinguishing itself overmuch. By constantly returning to the same event (the movie sometimes feels like a somber remake of "Groundhog Day") and relating the story through so many eyewitnesses, the film sacrifices some of its character development for sheer narrative pyrotechnics. Still, the storytelling is occasionally ingenious and Travis keeps the action percolating along at a fast enough clip to keep us from noting the sometimes farfetched and overwrought nature of much of what the movie is showing us (it also points up just how many nefarious things one can presumably do with an iphone these days). There`s even a humdinger of a car chase through the beautiful streets of Salamanca that is sure to get the adrenalin pumping, even if the mind is left reeling by its overall implausibility.

"Vantage Point" may have you rolling your eyes from time to time in confusion and disbelief, especially towards the end of the movie, but it is at least guaranteed to keep you entertained for the ninety or so minutes it takes to tell its story.