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A much needed action film for adults. By Eric M. Harvey I wanted to see VANTAGE POINT at the theater but it was just one of those things that slipped by. One of the main reasons I felt the need to check out VANTAGE POINT was because of the cast. Not a kid-friendly crew: Dennis Quaid, Sigourney Weaver, Forest Whitaker, Bruce McGill, James LeGros. So obviously this was going to be an action-thriller for adults rather than the saggy pants lining up for the remake of PROM NIGHT. The film’s twist is that you get the vantage point of different members of the ensemble cast, starting a few minutes before the start of a speech by the President of The United States (William Hurt) in Spain. Every time the story needs to jump to a character’s vantage point, the film rewinds back to the same time before the speech/assassination and starts over with a new point of view. MovieWeb - Movie Photos, Videos & More There’s a lot going on here. You’ve got the terrorists who are planning the assassination, a cable news crew covering it (headed by Weaver), a U.S. tourist (Whitaker) taping the speech with his video camera, a local Spanish police officer who may not be who he seems and a burnt-out Secret Service agent (Dennis Quaid) who may have came back too soon after a previous assassination attempt where he was shot. MovieWeb - Movie Photos, Videos & More Sounds like a lot to wade through but the film is tight, keeping logic to a minimum. It’s almost too little at times; the film’s performances almost veer off into camp in places. Fortunately, the direction by Pete Travis (HENRY VIII) and the editing by Stuart Baird (editor of the modern day classic THE LAST BOY SCOUT and Ken Russell alum) and Valdis Oskarsdottir (JULIEN DONKEY-BOY) work together so well you forgive the cliché and overwrought writing. Matter of fact, it’s almost mandatory that you run out and see VANTAGE POINT just to see a director and his editors at the top of their game. MovieWeb - Movie Photos, Videos & More One can’t talk about VANTAGE POINT without mentioning the spectacular car chase towards the end of the film. While its computer generated in parts, a lot of the chase is actual stunt driving that’s a lot less showy and way more suspenseful than supposed drive-in films like DEATH PROOF or the car-centric video game geekiness of THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS and the GONE IN 60 SECONDS remake.
MovieWeb - Movie Photos, Videos & More I have a feeling that in about 20 years, a lot of cinephiles are going to find VANTAGE POINT a much underrated American film. It’s a film not of its time in many respects. However, that’s assuming we haven’t degenerated to IDIOCRACY levels by then.
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