First off, if you thought the trailer gave away everything you wouldn’t be entirely correct. However, to say you can’t figure most of it out by what they do give you would be a lie. I took a stab at it about a week ago, and I am not going to tell you I was way off, spot on or had most of it correct, but I will tell you this is not the clever thriller it is billing itself to be.
Like another release this weekend (Be Kind Rewind), Vantage Point has been bumped around the release schedule and ultimately found a home in the February dumping season, a time of the year where we rarely find good films and this is no exception. If you have seen any of the many trailers for this film you already know the President has supposedly been assassinated and eight different people saw it happen from eight different perspectives. So guess what, after you watch the whole ordeal unfold once you get to watch it happen six more times before the end. Yup, it’s a rewind feature as you watch it once from one perspective and then the images you just saw literally rewind only to start you off with a different character perspective and you go through it all again. I can’t begin to tell you how annoying this is the very first time you see it happen, because you know it won’t be the last.
If you take only a second to think out the story based on the trailers you should have a solid idea of what is in store for the entire film. I can’t tell you how this film would play had I not seen the marketing because I did see it and it begs you to try and figure it out, which it really shouldn’t.
Outside of the storyline there are two other major problems I have with this film. First off is Dennis Quaid, who is convinced this guy can act? Dennis Quaid can act like one person, and that’s Dennis Quaid. I can imagine the set of Vantage Point and director Pete Travis saying, “That was great Dennis, but do you think we can do it again? Only this time, do it more Dennis Quaidy.” This guy smirks, grimaces, scowls, frowns, sneers and distorts his mug into just about every shape he can think of, but in the end you realize it is all just a different face of Dennis Quaid.
After you come to grips with Quaid you are now confronted with Forrest Whitaker, easily one of our best actors, but someone please tell me why the hell he is continuously cast as some slow-witted oaf. If you were to tell me his character in Vantage Point was actually mildly retarded I wouldn’t second guess you. Is it because he has a lazy eye? Does Hollywood realize that a lazy eye doesn’t make you dumb, it just says you have on wonky eye, get over it, Stuart Scott was able to why can’t Forrest Whitaker?
I know these things hardly have anything to do with Vantage Point as a film, but when you have one guy aggressively frowning for the entire time and another guy looking as if he can’t tie his shoes without help it doesn’t help out your film. My suggestion is to skip this one at all costs, it is an exercise in patience and you are going to need a lot of it to watch this redundant mess and find any enjoyment.
