DNfromMN - Movie Reviews - The Signal and Vantage Point

Two Takes on Different Viewpoints

THE SIGNAL (Release Date 2/22/08)

VANTAGE POINT (Release Date 2/22/08)

I wasn’t going to do a review of The Signal, because I saw it like 2 months ago and I knew it wouldn’t be released for a couple of months and, if you really want to read reviews, it was at Sundance 2007 so it’s been reviewed a zillion times. Then I saw Vantage Point, which I was jazzed about from the previews: good cast, interesting idea, and action movie. If I were spending movie dollars this weekend instead of prepping for my Oscar bash, I’d seek out The Signal over Vantage Point. (However, the boyfriend has the opposite taste.) And honestly, neither one is entirely successful.


Story (The Signal): Maya and Ben are having an affair, and plan to skip town. Before they can leave, a signal invades all airwaves (radio, tv, phones, cell phones, etc.) on New Year’s Eve. After being exposed to the signal, people become murderously paranoid, including Maya’s husband. Who survives? Who gets ‘infected’? Will Maya and Ben live happily ever after?

Here’s the catch, there are 3 directors, and 3 parts of the story. Each director got to write their section of the movie. That’s important information, because parts 1 and 3, scary and tense. Part 2 is a comedy, with horror elements (like Shaun of the Dead). That’s the flaw of this movie. You never know what you’re going to get, but that middle part is just such a different vibe on the story, it’s confusing and really interferes with what you thought was the main plotline with Ben and Maya. Part 2 is really very funny, and highly entertaining, it’s just in the wrong movie. Think of it like 3 short films, with the same characters, and I think it’s a better movie.

I found some YouTube clips, which will give you a taste. Here’s the red-band trailer, which is clips of part 1. And is a pretty good approximation of the tone and style of parts 1 and 3.



And here’s two and a half minutes of the middle third:



Both are entertaining, in completely different ways. Watching them without a commercial interruption just didn’t fly with pretty much everyone in the group I saw it with.


Vantage Point (the story): The President is shot while giving a speech and the Secret Service are on the hunt for the shooter. What happens is told from the point of view of the news cameras (Sigourney Weaver), secret servicemen (Dennis Quaid and Mattthew Fox), a suspect (Eduardo Noriega), a tourist in the crowd (Forest Whitaker), The President (William Hurt), and then a final sequence which explains it all.

What a cast! What an idea! What a mess. I’m sure it was pitched as: Memento meets Magnolia, or “24” meets Short Cuts. I give the screenwriter credit for finding a way to connect all these people, but I have to take credit away for some of the most clichéd dialogue I’ve heard in a really long time. There are two really quite serious things that happen in the last 10 minutes, and the packed auditorium burst out laughing because of the line. That’s not a good sign.


And here’s the other thing, after you see the movie rewind itself twice, the audience gets it. We’re able to grasp that when you flash the time stamp at the bottom of the screen: oh, now it’s time for someone else’s point of view. And there were too many stories. Is the little girl who gets ice cream on Forest Whitaker’s ass important? Maybe, but is it a necessary element? No. I could care less about ice cream girl. The terrorists are far more interesting, and I wish we would’ve gotten a better view of their day. This could’ve been a taut 67 minute movie like Red Eye, but there were too many unnecessary subplots.

The acting in Vantage Point is good most of the way around. Sigourney Weaver is pretty much only in her segment, but it’s the opener, and she’s tough as nails. Forest Whitaker is lovable in a pretty poorly written role. William Hurt plays William Hurt better than anyone. The exception is for Dennis Quaid. It looks like he went the Renee Zellweger route on this one: “I’m a conflicted person, so I have to look like I’m sucking on a lemon.” I normally like DQ, and he’s had a rough year with what happened to his twins and all, but really, he’s pretty bad here. Oh, and when Matthew Fox tries to speak Spanish, it’s more like Ess-Spagh-Nole. Note to Matt: Just keep your mouth shut and look pretty, please.

I think it’s great that we’ve got a weekend where two of the releases play with subjective takes on an event. In The Signal, you get a disjointed horror/comedy with really effective parts that don’t gel. In Vantage Point, you get too much information for a really shallow plot, where everything gels but nothing is really effective.

So what’re these two worth. I’d say the Signal is worth a matinee if you like horror movies ($7), and Vantage Point will be great on DVD or HBO ($4). You may want to bring popcorn to Vantage Point, just to keep yourself busy while the movie rewinds (seriously, every time).