The first few scenes and you are ready for the cliched the-american-president-is-shot-and-the-world-is-in-danger movie. Vantage point is a  thriller from start to finsih. The movie has a strong script, good performances and a wonderful director. Even if some portions are half baked you are too absorbed in the story to notice.

Dennis Quaid looks jaded and puffed, but fits the bill of a security man returning to duty after being shot.

The movie is fashioned as a series of eight accounts of the same incident each removing a layer of the story. The action is fast and leaves you wanting more. The layered storyline leaves you guessing as to what secret will be revealed next.

All characters have a story to tell - from the cop returning on duty to the tourist, the undercover cop,the blackmailed cop, the sacrificing waiter, the moll, the unexpected villain and the little lost girl.


William Hurt plays a strong president, Dennis Quaid fits the bill as the cop willing to put his life in the line of duty. Matthew Fox is a surprise. Forest Whitaker as the typical do-gooder American tourist is good. The vamp and the villain are slightly inefficient but make you hate them ;)

All in all, a movie worth a watch. In fact it opened at #1 at the US box office in its first week.