Reviews by Matt

We have all had those days where the world seems to be conspiring against you. Nothing goes your way and events unfold that are working against you. I had one of those days, recently; this past weekend as a matter of fact.

It all started when a friend and I were going to see a movie. His car was in the shop so we had to walk there to pick it up. It should be said that the garage was more than half the distance to the movie theater to begin with. When we finally got there it was 12:40 p.m. and the movie started at 12:30 p.m. So far we were only missing previews and with this invention called the Internet, you can see any trailer you want at your convince.

Things looked good. We could make it in time to catch the last trailer and be there for the opening credits. That was until a few long traffic lights slowed us down.

We got to the theater, I went to get the tickets, and he went to get the snacks. I was hoping this would give us the advantage.

Sadly, my friend ordered a drink and the woman behind the counter spilled some on the cup and took the time to wipe it off. It was at this point that I realized, there was no way we were going to get there before the movie started.

When we finally got into the theater we had missed the first few minutes of the movie.


If there was ever a movie that you can miss the first few minutes of it is “Vantage Point.”

Why, you ask.

The answer is simple, because the movie covers one event from eight points of view.

President Ashton (William Hurt) is in Spain at a global summit and is being protected by Secret Service Agents Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid) and Kent Taylor (Matthew Fox). Ashton is about to speak when two shots ring out and the president falls.

The movie follows a variety of different people and how they see the event.

Awesome concept. Poor execution. That is really all there is to say about this movie.

The idea of showing one event from varying points of view is different. It is just not done in a way that worked. It became tedious to see the exact same thing over and over even if it was a different version of the same story.

The last “vantage point” was that of the terrorists and that was by far the most interesting. Though it is there that I saw one of the biggest plot holes/weaknesses. Details here would spoil the movie, so you will just have to trust me.

I could not be more disappointed in “Vantage Point.” Maybe they should have focused less on the gimmick and more on making the story better.

5 out of 10
Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense violence and action, some disturbing images and brief strong language.
90 min