Action Makes a Good Point

It may lack depth, but critics admit that Vantage Point packs a lot of excitement. The thriller, which begins by showing the same assassination from eight different perspectives, "fails the 'reality test' but maintains a certain intensity for its entire running length," writes James Berardinelli of ReelViews.com. "It's entertaining in the same way that an episode of 24 is entertaining."

Ryan Stewart agrees in Premiere. "It's a perfectly serviceable thriller with high production values and some better-than-average car chases," he says. As for the acting, it's "almost beside the point in a film fueled so much by adrenaline," writes Lawrence Toppman of the Charlotte Observer. However, as a Secret Service agent on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Dennis Quaid "makes a compelling hero," he says. (More action movie stories.)