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| ‘Vantage Point’ a rickety assassination puzzle (C) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| By Craig Outhier, Get Out | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| February 21, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Yeah, “Vantage Point” is kind of like that — a wildly improbable display of multiperspective storytelling in which an assassination plot against the U.S. president (William Hurt) plays out in a flurry of reveals and flashbacks. Luckily, the movie speeds by us so quickly, we barely have time to notice what a rickety contraption it is. Essentially, director Pete Travis and screenwriter Barry Levy do for Akira Kurosawa’s multiviewpoint “Rashomon” what Rube Goldberg did for the mousetrap. The movie takes place in Salamanca, Spain, during a historic peace summit between the president and leaders of the Arab world. Then, calamity. Just as the president takes the podium at Salamanca’s historic Plaza Mayor, two bullets rip through his torso. In the pandemonium that follows, an explosion is heard in the distance, and then another explosion in the plaza makes mincemeat of the president’s Secret Service detail, including fidgety vet Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid). Employing flashback, the filmmakers repeat the ordeal from the perspective of five different characters: Barnes, a network television producer (Sigourney Weaver), a Spanish patsy (Eduardo Noriega from “The Devil’s Backbone”), an American tourist (Forest Whitaker) and a mysterious spectator (Said Taghmaoui). There are plenty of artificial moments — the scenes in Weaver’s TV van, in particular, feel stiff and fabricated (actress Zoe Saldana delivers one of the worst impressions of a TV reporter I’ve ever seen). But there’s also a killer car chase scene and enough fast-paced intrigue to keep us engaged. In the midst of the carnage, multiple shootouts and Whitaker’s over-emoting, director Travis and screenwriter Levy manage to squeeze in a statement about American foreign policy. “We’ve got to act strong!” one of the president’s hawks (Bruce McGill) harrumphs, lobbying to bomb something. “We’ve got to BE strong!” the president corrects him, with swelling moral certitude. Certainly, not a sentiment to snicker at. But “Vantage Point” makes it so hard. REVIEW ‘Vantage Point’ Cast: Dennis Quaid, Forest Whitaker, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt Behind the scenes: Directed by Pete Travis, from a script by Barry Levy Rated: PG-13 (sequences of intense violence and action, some disturbing images and brief strong profanity), 90 minutes — grade: C Contact Craig Outhier by email, or phone (480) 898-5683 |
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