Vantage Point (2008)

O Masterpiece
O Excellent
O Rental
O OK
X Mediocrity
O Avoid

Review by Jason Pyles / February 22, 2008

“The Blair Witch Project” (1999) supposedly cost a mere $22,000 to produce … surely “Vantage Point” cost even less than that.

“Vantage Point” gives us the same footage, played over and over, with different camera angles. That’s right, we’re shown the same 23 minutes of events, six times.

The setting is Salamanca, Spain, modern-day, Aug. 11 to be exact. In an open plaza, 150 countries’ leaders and representatives are attending a “World Summit Against Terrorism,” where the president of the United States, President Ashton (William Hurt), is about to announce his counter-terrorist strategy, a plan that will finally enable western and Arab nations to reach an agreement and live harmoniously … only in the movies, right?

As we have been shown through relentless, merciless advertising for this movie, a sniper shoots the U.S. president while he’s at the podium. Two bombs explode. Havoc and chaos ensue. The Secret Service scurries to find the assassin(s). What I have just described is basically the whole movie, except we get to see a few additional minutes with each replay.

I don’t know about you, but I was looking forward to “Vantage Point” with great hope. It seems like a good idea, right? Well, it is a good idea if it’s done well. I happen to know this because this revision-and-retelling technique of the narrative has been done masterfully before by Akira Kurosawa in “Rashômon” (1950). While watching “Vantage Point,” I couldn’t help but wonder if director Pete Travis and writer Barry Levy had ever seen Kurosawa’s film. After all, it is required viewing.

“Rashômon” investigates a murder by showing us each various, discrepancy-filled perspective of individuals associated with a murder. One point that is effectively made in Kurosawa’s film is that the specifics of an event can vary greatly from witness to witness, notwithstanding liars. “Vantage Point” even fails to illustrate this concept, because each instant replay is the same, suggesting that everyone saw the incident the same way. Ludicrous.

Next I thought of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rope” (1948), because almost the entire film takes place in one room: Two weird dudes strangle a guy, place him in a chest, and invite his family to have dinner in that same room. Incidentally, it’s not boring, either. But “Vantage Point” essentially takes place on the same stage, so to speak, and quickly becomes monotonous.

What about “Groundhog Day” (1993)? Isn’t it also tedious? It can be somewhat tiresome if you’ve seen it before; but overall that movie works because Bill Murray’s character changes his actions with each new February 2. A “Vantage Point” version of “Groundhog Day” would have us watch the events of Bill Murray’s first Groundhog Day, over and over. Very fun.

And here’s another gripe: The movie is called “Vantage Point,” let’s note. One of the movie’s taglines reads, “8 Strangers. 8 Point of View. 1 Truth.” Adding these facts together, and considering that the event is shown six times, it seems clear that we are to understand that we are seeing what these people are seeing through their subjective points of view.

Simply put, “Vantage Point” looks more closely at these characters’ actions during the event, but the camera (which we identify with) still usually remains an omniscient, third-person observer. The tagline leads me to believe that we’ll see something similar to the subjective point of view found in “Cloverfield.” But not so.

When we do get through the twists and turns and learn the plot secrets, we are both disappointed and disgruntled. “Vantage Points” gives us mechanical dialogue (which is repeated), and several heinous car wrecks that the characters walk away from … I’m talkin’ wrecks that crash-test dummies couldn’t survive.

Each time the movie would “rewind” to start another retelling, the packed theater would groan or laugh (and this is not a comedy). As the movie progressed, the laughter became more frequent and intense. I was honestly waiting for Leslie Nielsen to be onscreen any minute.

You might wonder how “Vantage Point” could go wrong with such a stellar cast: Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt. Well, I learned the hard way from “The Devil’s Own” (1997), starring Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt, just how bad big-star movies can be. It has happened before, and it has again with “Vantage Point.”

Lastly, I end with a helpful illustration of what it’s like to watch “Vantage Point.” Note the fun:

“Vantage Point” gives us the same footage, played over and over.

“Vantage Point” gives us the same footage, played over and over. This is the …

“Vantage Point” gives us the same footage, played over and over. This is the end …

“Vantage Point” gives us the same footage, played over and over. This is the end and …

“Vantage Point” gives us the same footage, played over and over. This is the end and that’s …

“Vantage Point” gives us the same footage, played over and over. This is the end and that’s it.

Directed by Pete Travis
Dennis Quaid / Matthew Fox / William Hurt
Drama / Action 90 min.
MPAA: PG-13 (for sequences of intense violence and action, some disturbing images and brief strong language)

U.S. Release Date: February 22, 2008
Copyright 2008: 244