Dorkgasm Gonzo Is God

Agent Horrigan Would Be Proud By Michael C. Riedlinger Editor-In-Chief             Let’s get something straight before we start digging into Vantage Point, the directorial debut of Pete Travis: it is a story told from eight different points of view. It says so in every trailer and on every poster, so when the film flashes back to the beginning and you see Dennis Quaid again, don’t get frustrated or make bad Groundhog Day jokes. That out of the way, let’s talk about this interesting take on the “terrorists attack an anti-terror summit” yarn.             As I just stated, it’s about terrorists attacking an anti-terror summit. The typical tropes are all present, including the grizzled secret service agent who’s seen too much, the assassin who is only participating because the terrorists are holding his family hostage, and the noble American President in danger. Toss in a couple explosions, an out of place American tourist, and a fun car chase, and that’s about all she wrote. Story wise, Vantage Point isn’t very interesting. You will probably figure out the villains early on like I did, and any “whodunit?” aspects of the film are overly simplistic. No, this is about telling an impotent story in a compelling fashion.             The film opens in a news van where Sigourney Weaver is producing coverage on the aforementioned anti-terror summit. Some attempt is made to point out that not everyone sees America as a good guy in all of this, and WHAM!, the president is shot and explosions go off. The entire opening comes to us from inside the production trailer and we experience it all as any television viewer might. The shock of the real time sequence is only lessened because of the knowledge we garner from the film trailer. We already know that the president is going to be shot, that a podium will explode, and that the president will turn out to have been a body double. No, the raw feel here is what strikes us because it has the candor we all became familiar with during the 9/11 attacks. As soon as the film is done rubbing us as raw as possible, everything flips into reverse and we are back at the beginning. A clock reminds us that our story starts at noon.

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            In fact, from here the film becomes more frenetic, evolving into an action-thriller from one point of view to the next. Perhaps the most compelling, and out of place, is that of the tourist played by Forest Whitaker. He wields a camcorder as though it were as dangerous as the pistols every other character seems to have, but his viewpoint is not told in that medium. Instead, the filmmakers chose to use the same steady-cam, third person style that they give us for all the other characters. Of course, this character is concerned with not only the terrorist attack, but also the welfare of a conveniently lost little girl who just happens to run into him with an ice cream cone moments before the shooting and explosions start. This aspect of the film comes across more convoluted than even the terror caper, but without it, we might not have such a great view of the car chase.             Ah, the car chase! It is an ancient Hollywood art, perfected in the 1970’s by H. B. Halicki (Gone in 60 Seconds, The Junkmen) and only seldom justified in any movie. Here it provides a great climax to an otherwise predictable gimmick-film. Dennis Quaid chases bad guys through the streets (and sidewalks) of Spain, leading us closer and closer to a conclusion we saw coming about twenty minutes in to the picture. The driving sequences are enjoyable enough though, and when the cars and all the plot elements finally (pardon the pun) come crashing together, what we have is a satisfying ending. Sure, it is a bit far fetched, and the political commentary of the film is two dimensional, but we get a kick-ass car chase and the bad guys all get what is coming to them. Hooray for America! Give the movie a look if you’re in the mood for an interesting action flick, or wait for the DVD and keep your fingers crossed for a multi-angle feature. In any case, there are better films out there, but until they come up with an excuse for another Bourne movie, this is all we have.