'Vantage Point': 8 minutes of chaos, 12 different points of view

The assassination of an American president is examined from multiple angles in "Vantage Point," a fast-paced thriller whose gimmicky narrative helps disguise the foolishness at its center.

Still, audiences looking for rapid-fire thrills could do worse than this star-heavy debut from first-time feature director Pete Travis and first-time screenwriter Barry Levy.

President Ashton (William Hurt) is attending an anti-terrorist summit in Spain when he's gunned down by a hidden sniper. Minutes later, the platform from which he was to have

addressed a vast throng explodes.

"Vantage Point" examines the same 12 minutes of chaos from eight different points of view. By fracturing the narrative, breaking it down into a jigsaw puzzle, the filmmakers hope to deliver an added dimension of suspense. With each retelling we get closer to understanding the big picture.

Initially we witness the mayhem from the point of view of a cable news network director (Sigourney Weaver) who is in charge of the live telecast of the summit.

The second retelling centers on two Secret Service agents, Taylor (Matthew Fox) and the edgy Barnes (Dennis Quaid), who has only recently resumed his duties after taking a bullet meant for the President (who must be a terribly unpopular fellow).

In each episode we meet new players, like an American tourist (Forest Whitaker) whose home video of the assassination provides Barnes with valuable information and who protects a Spanish mother and her little girl in the ensuing confusion.

An undercover Spanish cop (Eduardo Noriega) foolishly agrees to carry into the square a satchel given him by his girlfriend (Aylet Zurer). A former special forces soldier (Edgar Ramirez) puts his intensive training to use in a bloody invasion of a hotel. And we eventually meet the terrorist mastermind behind it all (Said Tagaoui).

Just what the bad guys are after is left unsaid. Nor do we know if they're part of the Islamic jihad or Basque separatists or some other disgruntled bunch. All you need to know is that they hate the red, white and blue.

The film's structure doesn't allow for much character development -- a few broad strokes to establish each player's personality and then they're off and running. Director Travis seems to have studied the "Bourne" movies, for he emulates the handheld camera technique and breathless editing of those action hits.

There are a couple of downsides to "Vantage Point." The first is that the film never sticks to the format of having each episode represent the experiences of just one character. It fudges. And the closer we come to the breathless conclusion, the more the film relies on the most ludicrous of coincidences to put its major characters all in the same place for the big showdown. And of course when it's all over, the whole mess is tidily swept under the rug in a big government cover-up.

But, hey, it's February, a month when moviegoers have to be thankful for anything diverting.