VANTAGE POINT

Headline: ** Episodic Anti-American Conspiracy Tale **
TITLE: VANTAGE POINT
Quality: * * * Acceptability: -3
SUBTITLES: -- Some Spanish with English Subtitles --
WARNING CODES:
Language: LLL
Violence: VV
Sex: None
Nudity: N

RATING: PG-13
RELEASE: February 22, 2008
TIME: 91 minutes
STARRING: Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Edgar Ramirez, and Ayelet Zurer
DIRECTOR: Pete Travis
PRODUCER: Neal H. Moritz
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Andrea Giannetti, Callum Greene, Tania Landau, and Adam Milano
WRITER: Barry L. Levy
DISTRIBUTOR: Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Entertainment

CONTENT: (Pa, B, P, APAP, VV, LLL, N, MM) Mostly mixed pagan worldview with some elements of morality and good versus evil as U.S. citizens are heroes who are honest and heroic and one Secret Service agent is self-sacrificing, but set amid strong anti-American sentiment as story takes place at a peace treaty signing in Spain where a U.S. president is assassinated, protestors are seen outside with anti-U.S. signs, anti-presidential signs call the President the "world's #1 terrorist," terrorists are seen as one step ahead of the U.S. government, terrorist says that "the beauty of American arrogance is that they can't imagine a world where they're not a step ahead," one Secret Service agent is a traitor, and one terrorist says of the War on Terror that "this war will never end"; 18 obscenities and 16 profanities; strong violence includes presidential assassination and bombing explosion seen multiple times from various perspectives with many people dead and some people seen on fire from the bomb, many people shot, a few people stabbed, U.S. president kidnapped, car chase sequences with many car wrecks, etc.; no sex; brief naturalistic upper male nudity seen from behind as man puts on a shirt; no alcohol; no smoking or drugs; and, conspiracy, lying and blackmail.

GENRE: Thriller
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Older teenagers and adults

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Michael Lynton, Chairman/CEO
Amy Pascal, Chairman - Motion Picture Group
Sony Pictures Entertainment
(Columbia Pictures/TriStar/Screen Gems/Provident)
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Culver City, CA 90232-3195
Phone: (310) 244-4000
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Web Page: www.spe.sony.com/

SUMMARY: VANTAGE POINT is a modern-day political thriller about a Secret Service agent discovering that a presidential assassination is part of a larger conspiracy that includes some other government agents. Despite some exciting action and chase scenes, the plot of VANTAGE POINT is too episodic and doesn't always work, and the movie contains anti-American attitudes and some foul language that too often overshadow the drama.

IN BRIEF:

VANTAGE POINT is a modern-day political thriller starring top Hollywood talent like Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, Sigourney Weaver, and William Hurt. It follows a presidential assassination as it unfolds from the perspectives of eight different people. While in Spain to sign a treaty in the global war on terror, President Ashton is shot by an assassin. Moments later, chaos ensues. Then, a bomb underneath the platform explodes, killing hundreds. Amid the confusion, Secret Service agents Thomas Barnes and Kent Taylor must piece together the clues in order to catch the assassin. As the plot unfolds, Barnes realizes the assassination is part of a conspiracy that even includes some U.S. government agents.

VANTAGE POINT focuses on one character's point of view until a critical cliffhanger; then, the narrative rewinds and begins again from another character's perspective. Although mildly successful, the technique becomes almost laughable by the fourth or fifth rewind. Also, despite some exciting action and chase scenes, there is too much exposition. Finally, anti-American attitudes and some foul language too often overshadow the movie's action and drama. Please visit movieguide.org to find more suitable, more patriotic movies to see.