Vantage Point is a 2008 American political action thriller film directed by Pete Travis and written by Barry L. Levy.

The story focuses on an assassination attempt on the President of the United States in Salamanca, Spain, as seen from the various vantage points of different characters.

GNN producer Rex Brooks directs news coverage from a mobile television studio as the president arrives to a ceremony at the city's Plaza Mayor, for the start of an international summit against terrorism.

Before the President takes the stage, Secret Service agent Thomas Barnes notices a curtain fluttering in an allegedly vacated building, and observes American tourist Howard Lewis filming the audience.

He receives a call from another Secret Service agent, who reports he is pursuing the suspected assassin; Barnes is then startled by an image from GNN's live feed.

Enrique, a Spanish police officer guarding the Mayor, overhears his girlfriend Veronica being embraced by a stranger and plan to meet later under an overpass.

Previously, Ashton, having been informed of a credible threat, returns to his hotel room while his body double proceeds to the plaza.

Ashton and his personnel discuss the reason and origin for the terrorists' plot, and the return of Barnes to active duty; they watch on TV the double being shot and the first explosion.

One adviser is intent on Ashton giving immediate order for retaliation against the village of origin of the terrorists they are aware of, when the second explosion shatters the room's windows.

At the plaza, terrorist Suarez, previously seen as Sam, shoots Ashton's body double using a remote-controlled automatic rifle placed adjacent to the window that drew Barnes' attention.

The rifle is retrieved by Secret Service agent Kent Taylor, who Barnes sees on the GNN live feed leaving the scene wearing a Spanish police uniform.

At the hotel, Javier kills the guards and aides and kidnaps the president, placing him in an ambulance with Suarez and Veronica disguised as medics.

After crashing his car, a critically injured Taylor is dragged out by Barnes, furious at his partner's betrayal, before he dies right before revealing the President's whereabouts.

[2] When Forest Whitaker expressed interest in participating in the project, Travis welcomed the chance to work with him by Americanizing the character of Howard.

Travis credited cinematographer Amir Mokri and the lighting crew for making it look like the twenty-minute segment portrayed in the film unfolded under clear and sunny skies, when in fact it frequently was overcast and drizzling.

Special features for the DVD include "Surveillance Tapes: Outtakes", interviews with the cast and crew titled "An Inside Perspective, Plotting an Assassination", "Coordinating Chaos" stunt featurette, and the director's commentary.

The consensus critics reads, "Vantage Point has an interesting premise that is completely undermined by fractured storytelling and wooden performances.

[13] "Vantage Point is at its best in the early going when it focuses on the Secret Service agent, whom Quaid plays with the intensity of a man trying to blast through doubt and fear by staying very, very angry.

[14] Jim Lane, writing in the Sacramento News & Review, said, "It all winds up—or dribbles down—to yet another chase through crowded streets in commandeered cars, with an ending meant to be ironic but simply providing a crowning howler to all the Rube Goldberg nonsense."

"[16] William Arnold of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer believed the film was "flat-out one of the more exciting and original gut-busters that Hollywood has produced in many a month.

"[17] Richard Corliss of Time said that "Vantage Point scored with surprisingly robustness at the wickets, outperforming the predictions of industry analysts and seeming likely to be the weekend's No.

"[19] Writing for The Boston Globe, Ty Burr said the "rewind/retell gambit quickly grows tiresome" and the result of the film was "both clever and stupid - an interesting feat.

"[20] James Berardinelli, writing for ReelViews, called the film a "fast-paced motion picture that fails the 'reality test' but maintains a certain intensity for its entire running length.

"[21] Scott Foundas of The Village Voice said the film encompassed "multiple perspectives" that "are all foreplay, it turns out, for an orgiastic third-act car chase during which the movie's story threads converge in a way that makes Paul Haggis seem like a master of Balzacian realism.

[22] With each of the perspectives, the story is skillfully and enticingly enhanced, and then the movie segues into an epic - and wonderfully complex - chase sequence that cuts between all the participants (and picks a few new ones in the process) as it rushes to an explosive conclusion.

He said the original holdover slated release for the film in 2007 by Sony was "unlikely to stop traffic around multiplexes despite its attention-getting cast, especially when poor word of mouth takes hold.