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Derek Malcolm's rating
Shooting the president eight times
By
Derek Malcolm
6 Mar 2008
Pete Travis's film has the President of the United States (John Hurt) travelling to Spain to deliver a major address on terrorism in a crowded square.
But, before he can utter a word, a shot rings out and he falls, seemingly mortally wounded. Seconds later a bomb explodes.
We then see endless repeats of the catastrophe both before, during and after it occurs. Travis intends to explore the idea of the different truths as seen by various culpable and non-culpable beholders.
Unfortunately the second half of the film dissolves into an improbable action thriller with eight reasonably well-known actors and a plot that scarcely makes a mite of sense.
Dennis Quaid is involved as a secret service agent, Sigourney Weaver as a television producer, and Forest Whittaker as a bystander who thinks he has the culprit on his camcorder.
But nobody can convince us that in order to know the whole truth and nothing but the truth you have to watch all eight sub-stories.
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