Movies: "Vantage Point"

A grim look at terrorism, over and over and over again. They replay the same twenty minutes of "real time" for the first half of the movie, watching the situation as it unfolds but looking at it from slightly different viewpoints. Each replay adds another bit to the story, which is good because when you get to the crux of the plot, you are completely familiar with all the characters and what roles they are playing. A lot of movies like to use very complex plots which can leave you confused if you are not paying close attention, and sometimes they are confusing even when you are paying close attention.

The one thing that did not make much sense was the high speed car chase through the crowded, narrow streets of Salamanca. In a situation like we had in the movie, and especially in Spain, I would have expected complete gridlock. But we have these guys screaming down the streets banging into things, chasing people off their chairs, knocking over the fruit peddlers cart, all the standard car chase elements. But hey, what's a thriller without a car chase?

They covered many of the essential elements of terrorism, and one that I am a little doubtful about: having a mole inside the secret service. This is something we used to worry about with the Soviets. Theory was that the Soviets were training people to act like Americans and then come and live in America and pretend to be Americans, until they were called upon to do something for mother Russia. Seems a little hard to believe that terrorists would have the patience to develop a deep cover sleeper. They seem to be more of the instant gratification persuasion. But hey, everyone likes a good conspiracy theory, don't they?

Although the setting is Salamanca, Spain, it was actually filmed in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

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