Monday, August 10, 2009

On DVD: Finding a Vantage Point

Vantage Point movie review (on DVD)

Score: 7/10

I was looking for a good action/drama release this weekend, and we settled on getting Vantage Point from the RedBox. Good call. It was action-packed, had an interesting premise, and was executed well on almost all fronts. (A 7 on my scale means I would have been OK with seeing it in the theater and I recommend it.)

What worked: Really cool premise. Viewing an event from several different perspectives makes for interesting story telling. The last time through it got a little repetitive, but overall it worked. Dennis Quaid was really good, as was Forest Whitaker, who was almost too good for this movie. Most of the other actors did a very good job. The action sequences were very well done, and the story held together (until the end)

What didn't work: The story went into unreal land at the end. Usually I'm cool with that, but the storytellers set up a very 'real' world over the first 60 minutes, and entered a more traditional action world at the end, which hurt the movie. Also, William Hurt (who plays President Ashton) and his advisers have the worst scene in the movie discussing the geopolitics of terrorism. Not their fault -- the scene just wasn't written well, and it's a key scene.

Who would want to see this: Moviegoers who like a movie that's mostly action but has plenty of drama mixed with a few twists and turns.

Closing credits: If you haven't seen this, go rent it. It's worth the price, and it's the kind of movie that sticks with you for a couple of days. A great film? No, but better than most and very entertaining.

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