{"id":906,"date":"2008-07-06T13:01:15","date_gmt":"2008-07-06T17:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=906"},"modified":"2022-10-11T10:49:17","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T14:49:17","slug":"vantage-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/vantage-point\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rashomon effect in Pete Travis’ Vantage Point"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Vantage Point<\/em> is an awesome technical achievement, and I don’t mean that to damn it with faint praise. Director Pete Travis and writer Barry Levy demonstrate excellent plotting, spatial sense, editing, logistics, and continuity. As a thriller it moves forward relentlessly, and feels comprehensible, self-contained, and very satisfying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is structured around a single gimmick, but it’s a good one. As one of the cinematic children of Rashomon<\/em> (including The Usual Suspects<\/em> and Courage Under Fire<\/em>), it retells the same event from multiple points of view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An assassination attempt on the US president in Spain is foiled by veteran Secret Service agent Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid) and civilian Howard Lewis (Forest Whitaker). The advantage of this structure is to withhold information and create suspense. The first time we spot Lewis, from the hyper-cautious Barnes’ perspective, he seems to be acting fishily. But when we soon see the events from his point of view, we learn he’s an innocent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the structure works the other way; almost a full hour passes until we see fellow Secret Service agent Taylor’s (Matthew Fox) side of the story, and the simple fact of his prolonged absence causes the audience to suspect him. At about the one-hour mark, the rigid, neat structure breaks down and we begin to see slivers of each character’s experiences mixed together, as they all draw to a single time and place for the climax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"William
A turkey in every pot and a thriller in every multiplex<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But the crucial falling-down point of the movie is the trumped-up assassination plot itself, which is seemingly crafted for maximum storytelling drama and not real-world terrorist efficacy. Would an actual successful assassination be so hi-tech and complex? This plot relies on lots of wireless technology, split-second timing, blackmail (coercing someone to perform key tasks better done by someone the plotters could count on) and at least two inside men (one of whom must have spent almost a lifetime preparing).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is how terrorism works only in the movies. Real-life assassins tend to be lone gunmen who manage to slip through security with their sheer unpredictability, and terrorist attacks like Oklahoma City and 9\/11 didn’t depend on technology more complex than fertilizer and box cutters. While we’re on the subject, what are these particular assassins’ motivations, exactly? It becomes clear they don’t wish to kill the president but to capture him. Whatever they hope to accomplish, they seem quite pleased with themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Forest
OK, everybody skootch in a little… say cheese!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

All of these questions are negated in the end by a news broadcast that claims that a lone assassin has been shot and killed. This conclusion plays to the public’s lust for conspiracy theories than continues to plague 9\/11 and the JFK assassination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extra observations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • One of the biggest plot twists is spoiled in the trailer.<\/li>
  • Barnes is a cliche we’ve seen before, played by Clint Eastwood in In the Line of Fire<\/em>.<\/li>
  • There’s an oddly tiny role for Sigourney Weaver as television news director Rex Brooks. Was there more intended for her character? Perhaps she took the role for an opportunity to spend a few days in Spain.<\/li>
  • Hey, it’s Hollywood’s go-to middle eastern guy, Said Taghmaoui (from The Kite Runner<\/em> and Three Kings<\/em>). He does turn out to be a villain, but so do two white dudes, so the movie totally isn’t racist.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Vantage Point is an awesome technical achievement, and I don’t mean that to damn it with faint praise. Director Pete Travis and writer Barry Levy demonstrate excellent plotting, spatial sense, editing, logistics, and continuity. As a thriller it moves forward relentlessly, and feels comprehensible, self-contained, and very satisfying. It is structured around a single gimmick, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,2],"tags":[1072,707,133,1071,2042,767,44,1225],"class_list":["post-906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-3-stars","category-movies","tag-dennis-quaid","tag-forest-whitaker","tag-matthew-fox","tag-pete-travis","tag-rashomon","tag-sigourney-weaver","tag-thriller","tag-william-hurt"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/vantage-point-feature.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-eC","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1368,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/ridley-scott-body-of-lies\/","url_meta":{"origin":906,"position":0},"title":"A Clash of Faiths: Ridley Scott’s Body of Lies","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"January 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Ridley Scott's follow up to the gentle comedy of A Good Year and the crime drama American Gangster (partly modeled, I think, on Michael Mann's epic Heat), returns to the politically-themed yet still action-oriented territory he first visited in Black Hawk Down. The key difference here is that, like Peter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/body-of-lies-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/body-of-lies-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/body-of-lies-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/body-of-lies-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/body-of-lies-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5893,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/pandorum-is-all-premise-and-no-logic\/","url_meta":{"origin":906,"position":1},"title":"Pandorum is all premise and no logic","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"February 4, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I rented Christian Alvart's Pandorum solely on the strength of the premise: two men awake from suspended animation, on a spaceship, in a locked room, not knowing where they are, what their mission is, or if there even is a mission. It's well cast with Dennis Quaid and the very\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pandorum","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pandorum.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pandorum.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pandorum.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pandorum.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/pandorum.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":923,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/malcolm-mcdowell-plays-public-school-war-games-in-lindsay-andersons-if\/","url_meta":{"origin":906,"position":2},"title":"Malcolm McDowell plays public school war-games in Lindsay Anderson’s If….","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"July 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"If.... is the first in director Lindsay Anderson's trilogy of films featuring Malcolm McDowell as the Mick Travis, whose misadventures continue in O Lucky Man! and Britannia Hospital. Everything I read about the trilogy repeats the same word to descibe Travis: \"everyman.\" On the evidence, I take this instance particular\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/if-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/if-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/if-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/if-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/if-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":952,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/o-lucky-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":906,"position":3},"title":"Malcolm McDowell tries not to die like a dog in Lindsay Anderson’s O Lucky Man!","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"August 22, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the course of its truly epic length of 177 minutes, Lindsay Anderson's O Lucky Man! (1973) picks up the continuing saga of Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell) from If.... While If.... used a British public school as a metaphorical microcosm with which to satirize British class culture, O Lucky Man!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/o-lucky-man-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/o-lucky-man-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/o-lucky-man-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/o-lucky-man-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/o-lucky-man-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1992,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/dennis-hoppers-colors\/","url_meta":{"origin":906,"position":4},"title":"A Problem With the Whole World: Dennis Hopper’s Colors","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"March 6, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Dennis Hopper's Colors may be a buddy cop flick on the surface, but it's hardly typical high-concept Hollywood material. It does have a token overarching plot (involving a mismatched pair of cops tracing the perpetrators of a drive-by shooting), but it's merely a loose thread to hold the movie together.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Colors","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/colors-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/colors-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/colors-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/colors-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/colors-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":976,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/britannia-hospital\/","url_meta":{"origin":906,"position":5},"title":"Malcolm McDowell checks in to Lindsay Anderson’s Britannia Hospital","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"August 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Since we've last seen Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell) in O Lucky Man!, he's moved to America and rediscovered his lust for power and profiteering. Now a member of the media (with no less than Luke Skywalker - Mark Hammill - on his crew), he has returned to his homeland on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Britannia Hospital","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/britannia-hospital-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/britannia-hospital-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/britannia-hospital-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/britannia-hospital-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/britannia-hospital-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=906"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6274,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906\/revisions\/6274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}