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Vantage Point
Stars: Dennis Quaid, Forest Whitaker, Eduardo Noriega, Matthew Fox, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Zoe Saldana, James LeGros, Bruce McGill
Director: Pete Travis
A cliched, chaotic account of the attempted assassination of a US president (Hurt) in Spain, as seen from several different perspectives.
Bits of it might be quite exciting, if only we knew what the hell was going on. In the end, though, we tire of seeing the same events over and again, while more unintentional chuckles than thrills are raised as bodyguard Quaid tries to get the drop on those responsible for the assassination and the subsequent bomb blast (which, it must be added, are rendered inexplicable by events we're shown later).
Tourist Whitaker - the best thing in the film - shoots it all on his camera, but we never see what incriminating footage he comes up with, while the assassins themselves remain shadowy, unexplained figures, and news reporter Weaver turns out to be an insignificant character who disappears after the first few minutes.
Lots of car chases and shootings, though, should keep you from dropping off. Otherwise, a failed experiment.
David Quinlan
USA 2008. UK Distributor: Sony (Columbia). Colour by deluxe.
89 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 12A.
Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 0, Swearing 1.
Review date: 01 Mar 2008