From the outset, Vantage Point makes the audience fully aware that this is a film dealing with perspectives and the subjectivity that vision bestows. The opening montage conveys this theme through a composition of acute angles overlapping the cast in shots that will eventually come to pass.

This opening exercise in film economy presents the players and allows this political thriller to hit the ground running. Much like the formula created in Rashômon, director Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 classic, Vantage Point witnesses an assassination plot through the eyes of various individuals brought together by horrific circumstance. A heightened state of terrorism has made the President of the United States the target and it is up to the audience to solve this adrenalized “whodunit.”

Driving with a full head of steam, Vantage Point plunges into the storyline and replays the same startling sequence from the standpoint of multiple players. What at first sounds like an exceedingly boring method quickly becomes the film’s most attractive attribute. Director Pete Travis reins in the audience by virtue of a frenetic pace that will scarcely allow even the most indifferent to enjoy the recline feature of stadium seating. However, once the effect of the catchy construction wears off, Vantage Point’s use of the ever-pervasive camcorder technique leaves us with much more style than substance. Never deviating from its high-intensity formula, the film offers nothing in the way of cinematic contrast and, as a consequence, deprives the audience of any meaningful characterization.

Having a record consisting only of television credits, director Pete Travis seeks to break free and venture into Hollywood’s hallowed grounds. The basic tools are there, but Travis and first-time screenwriter Barry Levy just cannot add the layers necessary to elevate their film above a boilerplate action flick. Beginning with a fair amount of intrigue, Vantage Point cannot hang on and leaves a decent cast including Dennis Quaid and Forest Whitaker scrambling with only a hollow shell as a guide. Even if the riddle remains unsolved come climax time, an extended car chase finale prompts a new question in the minds of moviegoers: what’s the point?

Adam Neal is the founder of www.featurefilmreview.com. E-mail comments to him at adam(@)featurefilmreview.com.