A Mess of a Thriller: Vantage Point

Vantage Point
Directed by Pete Travis
Released February 22, 2008

The trailers made it look cool. In theory presidental assassinations are the best plots for films. What viewers might not know what to expect is that a very lacking setup is the starting point for continuous replays of the same scenario from a different point of view. Seeing pretty much the same thing over and over does not make it good, and that replay style accounts for well over an hour of the film's hour and a half runtime. That is not the film's main problem, but it certainly does it no help. The plot is jumbled and the twists make little to no sense. None of the motivations behind the beliefs and betrayals of each of the characters is ever explained - some of them just allude to the fact that "Americans are stupid and ignorant" and will "pay the price". None of the cast members stand out, and Dennis Quaid, Forest Whitaker, Sigourney Weaver, and Matthew Fox all need to find better venues for their considerable talents. This film just gets more and more annoying until it reaches its unsatisfying and rather bland conclusion.

F

If you want to see something good about presidential assassination attempts, check out the following:

JFK
This Oliver Stone conspiracy thriller examines the assassination of JFK and all the mystery surrounding it to the most exact detail. It may be fiction, but it sure is fascinating. Kevin Costner turns in one of his best performances (considerably better than the majority of his work) and this four-hour film (at least the director's cut) actually passes fairly quickly.

In the Line of Fire
Wolfgang Petersen guides this tense and thrilling movie about a clever assassin who plays mind games with a secret service agent played with grim determination by Clint Eastwood. John Malkovich is amazing as the brilliant but definitely evil John Booth, as the assassin calls himself. This is purely and simply what a thriller should be - and you won't be let down.

24: Season One
During the first eight or so hours of the show's groundbreaking first season, there is nothing more exciting or suspenseful than the threat against presidential candidate Senator David Palmer. Add in all the Jack Bauer/Counter Terrorist Unit stuff and that's great too, but around 6 a.m. this is one assassination attempt you will not be able to look away from.