The President of the United States (William Hurt) has been assassinated (or nearly so) at a rally in Spain but like a character in a George A Romero movie, he won’t stay down for long. No, he’s back up and bobbing around in a seemingly never-ending series of instant replays. After the shot rings out and the Secret Service agents go scurrying around as if they’d never prepared for such an event, the film rewinds to the 10 minutes immediately prior to the attempted murder.
Each time the story rewinds and then starts up again, it focuses on following the events from a different character’s perspective. We have the guy who would be singled out in every airport security line in America, the young daughter of a single mom who just wants to eat her ice cream in peace, the grizzled Secret Service agent who has just returned to duty after taking a bullet for this same president (come on now, hasn’t he sacrificed enough?), a handsome go-getter of an agent who pulled the grizzled guy back into duty, a pretty woman (not Julia Roberts) who you know is up to no good, an American tourist on vacation alone who apparently has had a camcorder surgically attached to his hand, the President himself, and a terrorist who looks and acts like every movie terrorist from the past 10 years.
The Bottom Line
A personal pet peeve of mine is when cars used in a chase sequence wind up without the damaged exteriors you’d expect to see after multiple tire-squealing, steel-wrenching collisions. Had Vantage Point drawn me in prior to its requisite car chase sequence, I might have slightly forgiven the way the sequence was handled and its ultimate outcome. While the last thing I want to do is disclose any plot elements which might ruin the film for you (although I really am sorely tempted to reveal who did what to whom with what and why just so you won’t waste your time and money), I’m sure you know going into an action drama involving terrorists and an assassination attempt that there will indeed be a pivotal car chase somewhere toward the end of the film. And the Vantage Point chase is a real doozy, if you define doozy as a totally ridiculous romp through the streets of Spain that goes on for 10 minutes and winds up pretty much back where it started.
GRADE: D
Vantage Point was directed by Pete Travis and is rated PG-13 for sequences of intense violence and action, some disturbing images and brief strong language.
Theatrical Release Date: February 22, 2008
