The older you get, the more cynicism sets in, the more jaded you become, the more you realize how much in this life is dictated by perspective. The winds of change shift, opinions ebb and flow, and sentiment grows or diminishes, all largely based on the subjective way that individuals shaped by different experiences perceive the same emotions and circumstances. The movie "Vantage Point" capitalized on this truism by capturing how many sets of eyes can offer disparate points of view on how a single event can be judged.
Director Pete Travis uses Salamanca, Spain, as his stage, painting it as the backdrop for a terrorism summit that draws 150 world leaders. Aging stars Sigourney Weaver (as a frantic television producer) and Dennis Quaid (looking particularly ancient, beat-down and world-weary as a Secret Service agent haunted by a past assassination attempt) are supplemented by a surprise appearance by Jack from "Lost" — unfortunately, he did not bring Kate along.
Without giving too much away, basically the President is shot … or is he? And it was an Arab terrorist behind it all … or was it? And it's going to cause a war on Morocco … or is it? Five different flashbacks, each 23 minutes in length, provide differing views of the assassination, from five very distinct perspectives from five very different people driven by very different motives.
In one flashback, a sketchy-looking Spaniard refers to himself as a member of the mayor's security detail, then basically proves to be the Spanish Jack Bauer by trying to set a world record for number of times a person can get hit by a car and continue running. In another, Forest Whitaker (in pretty much a throwaway role for such an incredible actor) covers the shooting from his personal videocamera, and moments later, we're shown the point of view from the President (a holy-crap-is-he-still-around? William Hurt) himself.
The final flashback covers the last hour or so of the movie, somewhat predictably revealing an intricate plot that we had to wait a long time to begin the process of understanding. Marked by a memorable quote — "That's the beauty of American arrogance: They cannot imagine a world where they are not a step ahead" — the scheme unfolds in front of our very eyes, leading up to a memorable-yet-slightly-cheesy conclusion. Along the way, however, we're treated to an awesome little chase scene and we also learn that, sometimes, rifles can basically be controlled by iTouch from hundreds of yards away.
As with so many movies, the ending detracts from the overall power of the movie, but to be fair, this movie, using these techniques, was a difficult one to end. So some of the momentum is last at the end, but "Vantage Point" still accomplishes the task of being a very intriguing, different flick — which is an ever-so-rare and to-be-treasured commodity in Wholly Homogenized Hollywood.
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