Movie Review - Vantage Point

Reviewed by Steven Frith

My Movie Standard - Memento

Viewed On: February 22, 2008

Vantage Point was a very unique idea that had tremendous potential, but while entertained, I left wondering what could have been.

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Forest Whitaker, Matthew Fox, and Sigourney Weaver

Rating/Length: PG-13 / 1 hour 30 minutes

Directed By: Pete Travis (no major previous direction that I could find)

Written By: Barry Levy (no major previous writing credits that I could find)

Synopsis: The President of the United States is shot upon his arrival in Spain before he has a chance to give a speech. The movie then shows us the act of terrorism through five strangers' "vantage points" (in a reversed Memento type of way) – each revealing a little more of the story until we learn the stunning truth.

Review:

Honest Opinion: Vantage Point was a fun movie to watch, but it was fairly cheesy at times which was especially hard to swallow (no pun intended) considering some of it came from 2007 Best Actor Oscar winner, Forest Whitaker. He was not alone either, as others were guilty of overacting including, not surprisingly, Dennis Quaid. I was honestly trying not to snicker during a couple of his more serious lines toward the end. All that being said, it did have you on the edge of your seat at times, and while some of the story lines were predictable, there were surprises throughout too. It’s a good, fun (even if a little short) popcorn flick to kill an hour and a half.



Directing: Pete Travis did well on his camera direction as the scenes were exciting, but he needs to work on getting more (by getting less) out of his actors.

Writing: It was too much for me. I liked the overall idea of the story and the plotlines that followed, but the character development either should have somehow been done before the attack or not at all. I also didn’t like how some characters randomly became friends and some were overly friendly with each other much quicker than what would happen in real life.

Acting: I’ve already voiced my opinion on this quite a bit. While not bad, there was some over-acting but it could have just been what they were reading more than the actors themselves.

Verdict: MATINEE – You should see it in a theater to get the full experience, but $10 is a little much to see this.