Vantage Point

Director: Pete Travis
Year Released: 2008
Rating: 0.5

The President of the United States (William Hurt) gets shot in Spain and this movie documents the different characters' mini-narratives leading up to that very moment - these figures include a Secret Service Agent (Dennis Quaid), his partner (Matthew Fox), a tourist (Forest Whitaker), the ice cream man, a street sweeper, an old man making tamales, a pigeon, two bullfighter, a derelict with a speech impediment and many others (I'm exaggerating but you get the idea). The gimmick becomes irritating very quickly (each segment ends right before you reveal some vital piece of information, only for things to 'rewind' and start back at the beginning) and the acting is atrocious: not only is Dennis Quaid patriotic-til-it-hurts, but even personal fave Forest Whitaker acts up a sweat-storm (calm down, Mr. Whitaker, you're no longer ruler of Uganda). Politically, it has an American Flag lapel pin screwed into its forehead - right in the beginning, an outspoken news reporter (Zoe Saldana) is told to 'shut up' by Sigourney Weaver's 'director' figure, making way for Fear Propaganda like terrorists who hate us for our freedoms (Saïd Taghmaoui can do it in his sleep by now), American traitors, kidnappers and conspiracy.