Dennis Quaid in "Vantage Point"
courtesy of Sony Home Entertainment
“Different Views”

Dennis Quaid is one of my favorite actors. He always manages to make his movies stand out in my mind for one reason or another. When he gets a script he is wonderful and when he gets a mediocre script he is still good. Such is the case with “Vantage Point,” a movie out on DVD this week.

“Vantage Point” is a movie that entertains but it isn’t great, still Quaid is quite good. It is a movie with a good concept but it just gets played to death. The film stars Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker and Sigourney Weaver as people who have a front row seat to an attempted Presidential assassination. When their and other stories are shown the audience ends up with the real picture of what happened. The action is so fast moving that you don't get a chance to think about the plot holes until later.

The President of the United States (William Hurt) is at a summit meeting on terrorism in a Middle Eastern country. Two of the Secret Service Agents guarding him are Tom Barnes (Quaid) and Kent Taylor (Fox). As they stand in front of him he is shot twice from a gunman in a building across the courtyard. Shortly thereafter there are two bombings in the vicinity.

Capturing all of this on film is GNN News. Director Rex Brooks (Weaver) is horrified by what she observes but keeps the cameras rolling throughout all the horrific events. Whitaker plays Howard Lewis, a tourist who videotapes the events.

The film starts with one viewpoint, or vantage point, and carries it forward for a few minutes then it rewinds and starts from another vantage point, each time going a little further with the story. This is done over and over about six times. This is a little excessive and weakens the film.

Quaid is the outstanding actor in the film while Fox is the weakest. Both Hurt and Whitaker have some good moments. A group of unknown actors aptly bring to life the roles of the terrorists. They make the zeal and dedication to bringing down the President believable.

There is a car chase sequence at the end of the film that is a wild and crazy ride. The photography is a little jittery here but the fun of the chase is one of the highlights of the movie. It seems like "Bullitt" time once again.

The film moves quickly and the suspense is palpable from start to finish. You don't have time to question anything in the script but rather just have to go with the flow. And for that reason the film is a crowd pleaser. It is only later that you have doubts about who did what and why.

There are some unique aspects to "Vantage Point." It has a Roshamon" tendency to over dissect the events, but getting a variety of views makes the movie what it is.

Who knew “Dylan” from “Beverly Hills 90210” could be an effective cowboy. Luke Perry plays a sheriff out for revenge in the new DVD “The Pledge.” In this movie his wife and son have been murdered and he is on the hunt for the killer. When he finds him he learns he is in the employ of a land baron who is trying to gain the land of a widow. That sets up the conflict and the basic plot of the film.

C. Thomas Howell co-stars in this solid western and the two men have a great time playing enemies. Lisa Brenner, Kim Coates, Jaclyn DeSantis and Nicholas Guest are also featured in the cast.

The plot is a little farfetched but those who like westerns will enjoy this one. Perry makes a cool hero and the triumph of good over evil is always welcome.

Producer Fernando Meirelles won much acclaim with his film “City of God” in 2003. Now he is back with another story about life on the streets in Rio de Janeiro. We see two young men, Ace (Douglas Silva) and Uolace (Darlen Cunha), trying to survive the rough world where they live.

One young man is looking or the father he has never known and the other is trying to build a better world for the son who is in his care. As they live their lives the world forces them to take sides against each other as gang wars rip the city apart.

This is a dramatic and emotional film that delivers a strong payoff for the audience. Get this one today and watch it, and be entertained and educated.

“December Ends” is a film about growing up in the United States. We watch the problems of a young man named Chris (Josh Janowicz) as he tries to cope with his mother’s death and his father’s abandonment.

His grief and confusion leads him to get involved with drugs and that is where his life takes a dramatic turn. Before long he is fighting for his life and that is a dramatic turn of events.

Janowicz does a good job of bringing al the conflicting emotions of this young man alive on screen. He is actually better than the movie and deserves to graduate to more impressive roles.

Who could have expected a series set in the 1960’s on Madison Avenue to be such a hit, but the AMC series “Mad Men” was just that. It attracted an audience and made a star out of its leading man Jon Hamm.

Hamm plays Don Draper, a man who is a whiz at the advertising business. He is also a cool man with the ladies. The DVD “Mad Men: Season One” chronicles his activities All thirteen episodes are contained on the DVD disc plus a myriad of special features.

The series perfectly captures the 60’s style of living and working. If you lived through it you will be able to recognize the fashions and mores. If you didn’t, you will learn the true story of this decade.
 

 

 

 

 

©2008 Jackie K. Cooper

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