The new political conspiracy thriller "Vantage Point" recently opened, and although critics have not been overwhelmingly kind to it, it is nonetheless entertaining to watch, if you don't get a headache from doing so - more on that later.

While actually quite ordinary (and even rather far-fetched) in its plotline, the story unravels in a highly unusual way. At an unspecified date, the fictitious U.S. President of the film (played extremely well by William Hurt) journeys to Spain to attend a summit meeting. Just as he is about to begin a speech in the town square of Salamanca, he is shot. A few minutes later, a terrific explosion kills about half of those in attendance, including some of the news crew.

All of a sudden, the film seems to rewind by itself, and then fades out. Then the scene begins all over again, but from a different vantage point, hence the title. The attempted assassination is played out over and over again, for a total of perhaps eight times, each time seen from the perspective of a different set of characters, and each time revealing a plot detail that had not been shown before. Then, at about the halfway point, a completely unexpected twist is revealed, followed by yet another, even more unexpected twist, then another "rewind" back to the beginning, this time from an entirely different point of view from those which have already been shown, and it is only then that we begin to get the full details of the picture.

The excitement here is almost more exhausting than that of "The Bourne Ultimatum", but unfortunately director Pete Travis's method of unfolding the action is, in addition to being suspenseful, headache-inducing. So be prepared if you see the film. Travis is not content to simply photograph a scene; he must use hand-held cameras which seem to be attached to the cinematographer's body, and the cinematographer gives the impression that he is constantly running. Only in moments when the news crew is setting up to run the satellite feed, or when the President meets with his advisers, or when the Secret Service is examining telling bits of evidence, does the camera actually come to a rest.

I will not give away the further details of the plot; I will only say that if you do not know much about this film, do not by any means examine any webpages on movie sites too closely - several contain spoilers.

The cast of the film is full of big-name stars in what are mostly small roles - William Hurt as the President, Dennis Quaid as the Secret Service agent who once saved the President's life, but who has failed to protect him this time, Forest Whitaker as an innocent bystander accidentally caught up in the panic breaking out, and Sigourney Weaver as the bossy but horrified news anchor who witnesses events from her CNN-like studio. It is a tribute to their acting skills that these four stars are able to do so much with characters that are basically stereotypes that have been encountered in other films. (William Hurt can dominate a scene simply by speaking one or two sentences.) And although Sigourney Weaver has visibly aged, she has done so very gracefully, and is not afraid to look her age onscreen (she is 58 now).

"Vantage Point" may, when you start to think about it, have a typical Presidential thriller plot, but the way it is told, and the performances of its stars, make it worth seeing. The script is by Barry Levy.