Directed by: Pete Travis
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker
Rating: PG-13

Dennis Quaid, Eduardo Noriega and Richard T. Jones in Vantage Point. (Courtesy photo)

Vantage Point has been compared to Rashoman, because it tells the same 23 minutes from multiple points of view. Of course Akira Kurosawa’s legendary film only told its story from three different perspectives; in Vantage Point we get five! Unfortunately, none of the five vantage points offers an alternative persective. They do follow the events of an attempted political assassination through five different characters, but shouldn’t the point be to alter your perception of the story based on the different points of view? Vantage Point is actually just a five-character movie that is told by one character at a time, as opposed to intercutting. To make the conceit even less relevant, each “perspective” includes information the character can’t know, and in each one, information is seen by the character but withheld from us. On the plus side, Vantage Point moves pretty fast and is almost held together by the cast. Vantage Point is certainly a bad movie, but it is an easy-to-watch bad movie.

Unless, of course, the embarrassingly simplistic representation of America’s role in global terrorism gets on your nerves. I couldn’t be bothered to get upset by it, because nothing in this story is grounded in reality. We never learn where the terrorists are from or even why they’ve decided to assassinate the president. All we know is that they hate America. Well, we know a few other things. We know veteran Secret Service agent Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid) has just returned to active duty less than a year after taking a bullet for President Ashton (William Hurt). While the other agents wonder if he’s up for it, agent Kent Taylor (Matthew Fox) supports him. The site is a summit in which an historic peace accord between Middle Eastern nations may be signed. Many international figures are there, so security is high. I’m talking at least six soldiers on the roofs and a pretty tough cookie at the metal detector. Sure, they miss a couple of guns and bombs, but nobody’s perfect. Among those folded into the story are a local police detective (Eduardo Noriega) who may or may not be in on the plot, a news segment producer (Sigourney Weaver) whose footage becomes key to solving the crime, and a big-hearted civilian (Forest Whitaker) who catches most of the action in his camcorder (none of which becomes integral to the plot).

It should be remembered that Dennis Quaid is only truly successful playing roles that allow him to smile. Barnes is grumpy and intense from the start, without even a Quaidian gleam in his eye. Fox does a little better. The Lost star is proving that he may be able to transition to big screen stardom. Whitaker gives his estranged-husband-on-vacation-who-is-compelled-to-help role his all. Unfortunately that turns out to be too much. Still, even an over-acting Whitaker is appealing. Noriega (The Devil’s Backbone) is forgettable in a role that never really explains itself. Better, are Ayelet Zurer and Said Taghmaoui as the villains. Zurer, one of Israel’s most acclaimed actresses, classes up the nonsense. However, this is a step down for her after her compelling U.S. debut in 2005’s Munich. Taghmaoui, so memorable in such films as Hideous Kinky and Three Kings, is too often stuck playing standard-issue Middle Easterners. He is also better than the material. Hopefully his heroic role in next year’s big screen GI Joe will help the hugely charismatic actor escape such parts for good.

Vantage Point does roll along with some verve. First-time feature director Pete Travis gives his movie a bright sheen that suits its video game-like energy and character depth. There are car chases and sprinting gunplay. There is also, thank you, movie gods, a child-in-jeopardy scene that actually plays like parody. Writer Barry Levy leaves no cliché behind, including writing a president who possesses the kind of peace-minded perspective on international relations that bleeding-heart liberals dream of. William Hurt actually manages to make his dialogue sound convincing—something Weaver, Fox, and Quaid aren’t able to do. And for a few minutes you get the feeling the movie might actually be about something. But right as the debate starts to get interesting, the action interferes. The film is also guilty of supplying a baffling amount of nonessential information that isn’t even character-based. Much time is given to the terrorists. In an attempt, perhaps, to humanize them? That certainly doesn’t happen in a movie in which no one is convincingly human. We’re left with a collection of familiar types who behave quite predictably—except for the big twist, which can attribute a good portion of its unexpectedness to the fact that it’s completely preposterous. And that is a good word for Vantage Point, no matter what angle you view it from.

Alex Manugian lives in Sherman Oaks, California. He grew up in Groton and has reviewed movies for Harvard residents for many years.