Skip to main content

Vantage Point (2008)

Vantage Point. Feature film. (2008, 90 mins) IMDB

...the filmmakers's idea of insight is rather obvious...

T

ake a run-of-the-mill storyline, chop it up into pieces and show the same event from six different points of view and you have a film called VANTAGE POINT.

There is nothing new in this film. Nothing new about the narrative and nothing new about the way it is told. All have been done before, yet it is an interesting film since you'll probably want to see it come together in the third act, but once you do, you won't need to see it a second time and you may be probably be disappointed.

That's my fundamental test for a movie. Would I want to watch it a second time or a third or fourth? In this case, once is enough.

The film takes place in a large city in Spain. World leaders have gathered to sign a treaty to fight terrorism. The big dog on the block is the US president complete with his massive convoy and army of secret service men.

In the seventh minute, POTUS steps to the podium to address the crowd and the world TV audience. Without saying a word, he is shot twice and collapses. Chaos ensues. We hear a distant bomb. A minute later, a bomb under the podium goes off and all hell breaks loose.

Who shot the president? Was he really shot? Will the shooter be caught? If so, how? My immediate answer was "inside job." One of the secret service agents had turned bad.

In thrillers the story line continues until there is a twist. The twist comes in the way of new information we didn't have before (although we may have guessed it in advance). The twists are often the revelation we were duped. We thought A happened, when in fact A never happened, it was B or C. The classic example of this twist is character B, a supporting character to our hero, was seen as a good guy, someone to trust, when in fact he's a mole.

There are two major twists in this story. The person shot wasn't the president, but a double. Second, it was an inside job. One of the secret service agents worked with the terrorists and helped them carry out the plan. It's the most plausible explanation for what happened in the first POV sequence.

How it comes together in the third act is complete Hollywood make-believe. The good guy (played by Barnes) figures it all out and, with little aid, chases after the bad guy. There is a car chase that lasts at least five minutes if not more and is typical no-brainer fair. Once the bad guy is chased down and killed, the president is saved and life goes back to normal.

The first POV sequence is from inside a TV control room covering the event. It works because we're setting up the start of the film and TV reporting is a natural for exposition.

The second POV is our hero--Quaid as a grizzled secret service agent protecting the president. Introduce our hero early in the film. The pat-the-dog scene is a TV clip showing him literally taking a bullet for the president. The inner turmoil is bubbling out with his sweat.

The subsequent sequences show other characters until we finally see how the bad guys pulled it off. Once that's over, it's Act III where they have taken the real president hostage and the chase is on.

The film is fun to a point but not great.

Posted 2009/03/31 at 18h28ET in Movie Commentary.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

If Only We Could Agree

Monday, June 11, 2012 ... have you been accused of misspelling a word you know is correct ... S usanne O’Leary wrote an interesting article on her experience with the variations of the English language in different countries. You know the obvious ones like colour with or without a “u” but less obvious ones like travelled versus traveled. Growing up in Sweden she learnt English in school—the UK variation. In publishing her books, she read reviews where she was criticized for improper spelling. False accusations as it turns out. While I write tire and cozy, it’s not incorrect to write tyre or cosy. Same language. Both accepted. Just different. You can read her write-up here along with the numerous comments posted by readers. I found it interesting, but that’s me. As a Canadian I deal with this issue everyday. I feel her pain when she’s criticized for something based on ignorance. No fun. I was told by a boss that “data are” isn’t correct. It should be “data is.” Read...

Day 109: Writing a Novel—The Deep Blue Hold

Sunday, March 6, 2017 Note: Unedited writings from my notebook for this novel. Square bracket items represent added comments. At 18:47 Office ... I barely remembered anything about this story ... H as it really been three months? I guess it has. I put it out of my mind [so much so] that I barely remembered anything about this story. Not even the title. [Unreal!!!!!!] I had the general premise and an ending—enough I thought for a novel. What I lacked was a determination and desire to want to write it. Why bother… I wasn’t enjoying the process and I had no reason to believe the result wouldn’t be anything more than what’s gone before—nothing. James Piper Kitchener, Ontario Post comments on facebook page. Follow me on twitter. Posted 2017/04/14 at 14h02ET in The Deep Blue Cage | Writing A Novel

CRA & E-Filing

Tuesday, March 6, 2007 ... Online Tax Services Suspended by CRA ... I received an email press release from the Canada Revenue Agency late on Tuesday stating they were shutting down the computer that processed e-filed personal tax returns. For many tax preparers the announcement means they will have to file paper returns or wait for the system to come back on, but it could be a long wait. Until we can announce a business recovery date, the Agency will provide daily updates to the media on the steps we are taking. On the surface, e-filing a return makes sense because it is more efficient, but at present it only makes sense for simple returns. If you file a return beyond a T4 and an RRSP deduction, you can expect follow-up letters requesting original receipts. For accountants, this hassle means additional time—time that usually can't be recovered. As result, many accountants file paper returns for their benefit. What is required is a system that allows the recei...