VANTAGE POINT **½

Directed by Pete Travis this action thriller stars Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, and William Hurt. Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense violence and action, some disturbing images and brief strong language, it is one hour and thirty minutes long.

For most of the film we watch the assassination of the President of the United States from eight different vantage points including two Secret Service agents (Quaid and Fox), the President (Hurt), a tourist (Whitaker), a Spanish security agent and several of the supposed assassins. As we get more information we learn the plot we're seeing may not be an assassination and some of the individuals are not who we originally thought they were.

Frankly, the continual retelling of the story starts to get tiring long before the plot has completely unfolded. And Whitaker's character gets downright aggravating, I kept wanting someone to tell him to sit down and butt out. It isn't that hard to figure out the surprise plot twist and the ending doesn't ring true at all. Also, as much as I prefer 90 minute films, a couple of the characters need a little fleshing out as we have no real idea why they're doing what we're seeing. Action fans who don't require a believable plot may really enjoy this film, however, as there's plenty of gunfire, shooting and explosions plus an exciting car chase through crowded streets. Still, considering the cast, this should have been better.