Article by Heather Perry
Every so often, Hollywood throws us another tacky, yet oddly compelling flick. Ladies and gentleman, the gimmick movie.
From William Castle’s electrifying publicity stunts to Johnny Depp’s real-clock “Nick of Time” to the simulated drive-in of “Grindhouse,” they’re fun, they’re different, and quite possibly a bit stupid. So, with “Vantage Point” now in theaters, the question is obvious: Can we enjoy it, without feeling so dirty afterwards?
“It does have a device that carries the storytelling,” Forrest Whitaker said of the political thriller, which portrays the same chunk of time, over and over again from different angles. “That device is a really interesting one, because the movie is just about looking at the same situation from different points of view.”
Okay, so maybe if it’s appropriate, a gimmick is okay. But still, a ticking clock, fake movie trailers, and re-played scenes doesn’t exactly scream Oscar-worthy material.
“This is not a gimmick movie at all,” Matthew Fox asserted. “When I read the script, I thought it was really well-executed and a smart thriller that dealt with perspective - which is something that I personally find really fascinating.”
As we learned while asking about such things, actors generally seem to equate the word “gimmick” with “bad.” But if “Grindhouse” was so much fun, why won’t the stigma go away?
“[Our device] is a gimmick, but I don’t think it’s a gimmick movie,” insisted William Hurt, who plays the assassinated President in the flick.
“It’s not a gimmick,” argued Dennis Quaid. “In fact, it’s actually an ancient Japanese form of storytelling called rashomon, where you see a story from several points of view and you find out each person’s truth about what that story is…The truth is really in the eye of the beholder.”
“Barry Levy, the writer of ‘Vantage Point,’ decided to convey the importance of taking into consideration each point of view,” explained Edgar Ramirez, another actor in the flick. “When you try to analyze any event in the world we live in, there’s no one side.”
A gimmick to be condemned, or a narrative device organic to its story? Have you seen “Vantage Point” yet? What do you think?
[Source : MTV Movies Blog]
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