Vantage Point

By Sony Pictures
Starring: Matthew Fox, William Hurt, Dennis Quaid, Forest Whitaker, Sigourney Weaver
Directed By: Pete Travis
Run Time: 90 minutes
Genre: Drama, Crime and Mystery

A Thriller From Beginning To End

Vantage Point is a thoroughly enjoyable thrill ride as seen through the perspective of eight different viewpoints. The action commences right from the very beginning when the President of the United States was shot. Not one minute was wasted in setting up the plot or characters. The screenwriter did an exemplary work of merging the eight viewpoints into a coherent piece of work.

The only thing lacking in the script was that the background of the characters were not adequately explained. However, its strength lies in being a compact piece of mystery, action thriller. And for such a genre, if the exposition were to linger on the what, why, when or where of all the characters, it would have dulled the thriller no doubt.

Dennis Quaid’s bodyguard character had only one mission in life and that is, to protect the President of the United States. You can see his one-mindedness in his quest to fulfill his life mission. As he races against time to protect the innocent and to rescue the President, he realizes that he has been double crossed. Indeed the plot thickens.

The director’s treatment of the eight varying viewpoints is highly lauded. There was not a moment of drag in the 90 minutes. The rewinding segment felt a little like ‘Sliding Doors’ and ‘Run Lola Run’ but they are ultimately different. Where the previous two movies shows us what could have been if the characters had taken another route in life, Vantage Points shows us what happened during that crucial 25 minutes and after from the viewpoints of the various characters. Observe how the eight viewpoints are cleverly presented and how they eventually overlap and merge towards the end.

Nevermind if we are unsure if the TV anchor was unhurt, nevermind if we are not given more details about the love life of the female terrorist, nevermind if we do not understand the psyche of the bodyguard double crosser. All we need to know is that the President of the United States is safe and sound, in the hands of the trusted bodyguard, as fleshed out by Dennis Quaid. You will be duly impressed with the high handed methods the terrorists of today employs to get what they want.

Get swept along by the action scenes and enjoy the payout towards the end of the film. Satisfying!