'Vantage Point': Not such a great view

What do you get when you take an interesting premise and then muck it up and overdo it to the point it gets painful to watch? You get Vantage Point, a film with a great cast and pretty much nothing else going for it.

So, the plot synopsis is a little complicated, but here's the dumbed down version (which would probably have made for a better film if told in a straightforward narrative). The president of the United States (everyone in the movie tries to look cool and refer to him as POTUS, whatever) is in Spain to support this anti-terrrorism summit when the unthinkable happens...he is shot! Things are however, not so simple, US intelligence got wind of this scheme and sent a body double for the pres while the real deal is chillin' in a hotel ridiculously close by. The terrorists aren't stupid however and know where the real deal is and use this assassination attempt as a distraction while they kidnap ol' POTUS. Enter Dennis Quaid as the president's star secret service officer who's already taken a bullet once to protect the president and now has some major anxiety issues. Turns out he's probably the only one who can break this thing open and save the president...again.

Now, I actually think this could have made for a cool movie, The filmmakers have taken the stance that they're gonna tell the story from different people's perspectives...or vantage points if you will. This could be done well, but with each new version of the story we're give little to no information. Most of it ends up being a complete waste of time and gets old very fast. Like I said above, the movie would have probably been better if they had decided to film it more traditionally and actually used some creative editing to reveal all the different story lines simultaneously. This would have cut out a LOT of crap and given them time to develop some of the key characters a little better.

Perhaps the most glaringly unnecessary part of the film is it's beginning. The film is set up by following a news crew led by Sigourney Weaver (whose only in the first 10 minutes or so) and Zoe Saldana. This whole segment could have been edited out of the movie. As great as Weaver is, she adds nothing to he movie and it's really annoying to see her wasted by being featured for such an insignificant role. The filmmakers use the news crew to give us some background info (ie the fact that Dennis Quaid's character has been recently wounded as above and is making his first appearance guarding the president since his recovery) but honestly, this could have been done better and in ways that would make us identify with the characters. This way just ends up being like a fancy, albeit unecessary, voiceover - and we all know how many weak films need voiceover to aid in set up.

Dennis Quaid is passable in the role of the emotionally fragile but fiercely loyal secret service agent. But really, the role doesn't seem like much of a stretch for him (see his other films The Alamo, Flight of the Phoenix, The Day After Tomorrow).  He plays it well, but again, not a stretch. Matthew Fox plays Quaid's secret service agent partner guy and he is amazingly annoying as such. He's just kinda blah and doesn't bring much of a character to his role - just seems kinda one-dimensional. Forrest Whitaker rounds out the "big names" in the cast (except for William Hurt who plays the president but isn't really noteworthy in any way). He plays an American tourist in Spain and gets himself wrapped up in the middle of all this crap in what I think is a pretty unrealistic way. He's never really bad in any role I've seen but this role seems much more indicative of his body of work that his Oscar winning role as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. I think that maybe was his moment to shine and the rest of his movies end up being middle-of-the-road.

In summary, Vantage Point isn't really a movie that I would recommend to any of my friends unless they're looking for an action film with an interesting premise but over-use of a gimmick and poorly utilized acting talent. Personally, I don't know many people looking for films in that vein though.