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December 04, 2007
Different Looks, All of them good.
Vantage Point
I caught the preview for a movie called Vantage Point this weekend, and was automatically intrigued. This film follows the form of the Japanese classic film, Rashomon. This is a style in which the film circles around a single event, but in order to form a truthful account of the event (in this case an assassination attempt on the President of the United States), the film looks at different perspectives of the same event. In this case, the points of view are witnesses at different vantage points.
This style is increasingly popular in recent cinema (Crash, Babel, Inside Man, Bobby), and is an extremely original way to approach cinema. All of these movies have been wildly successful and Oscar worthy. This being said, the Academy Award winners of the group applied the Rashomon technique to a plot about the human condition, while Vantage point simply focuses on a thrilling murder (attempt) mystery.
This may be why the movie was heavily considered as the script for the upcoming “24” movie. It has all the elements of an episode of 24 (murder, mystery, daring hero, loftier attempt at terrorism), but so much so that the producers decided it was too like the plots for the other seasons of the TV show.
The film stars heavy hitters Dennis Quaid, Sigourney Weaver, and Forest Whitaker. Quaid and Weaver are old-timers in the industry, and Whitaker, in my opinion is just now picking up steam. His performance in The Last King of Scotland warranted the Academy Award that he won. He is quietly taking the industry by storm and is poised to do so with a solid performance in this upcoming political thriller. Unfortunately, the director and writer are lightweights, which could be cause for rookie mistakes.
I think the combination of this unique and trendy filming style, well known names, and a “24” worthy script will combine for an entertaining film to say the least. I am worried about the fact that the production crew is inexperienced and that I’ve been seeing previews for this release (Feb. 22) for a few months now. When a trailer is out for so long, I tend to get antsy about the quality and widespread release of a film.
Read Me Later,
David Leapheart
Posted by dlheart at December 4, 2007 02:48 PM