(2008) A violent action thriller from director Pete Travis does itself in with a preposterous plot. In Salamanca, Spain, (but filmed in Mexico City, Mexico) where a historic summit between leaders of the Western powers and Arab rulers is about to take place, US President Ashton (William Hurt) appears in a crowded public forum beside the city's mayor. Beginning seconds before noon with GNN TV's cameras, directed by Rex Brooks (Sigourney Weaver), we watch events for 23 minutes, concluding as two shots fell the president, followed by a small explosion and then a huge blast on the podium.

From several witnesses the same scene is repeated from differing perspectives, beginning with Secret Service agent Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid), back in service for the first time months after having taken a bullet in the line of fire, saving the president's life. Next Enrique (Eduardo Noriega), a local police officer assigned to the mayor, enters the plaza and gives his girlfriend a bag before heading for the podium. He is mistakenly taken by the American Secret Service agents immediately after the shooting as a prime suspect but escapes with agents in hot pursuit. Third, an American tourist, Howard Lewis (Forest Whitaker), with a hand-held video camera among the throng inside the plaza, captures images of the assassination.

As the same opening scene on the plaza repeats for the fifth time, people in the audience could be heard snickering. With POTUS (the President of the United States) another viewpoint emerges, revealing a much different version of this fictionalized reality. Presented with a military request from a top aide - "Sir, we have to act strong" - for permission to drop bombs on a terrorist camp in Morocco, a friendly Arabic ally, President Ashton declines to give the order, reasoning that such a strike is precisely what the terrorists have attempted to provoke in an effort to disrupt the summit: "No, we have to be strong."

Finally we see the scenario revealed as the terrorist mastermind, Suarez (Saïd Taghmaoui), directs his people, Veronica (Ayelet Zurer) and Javier (Edgar Ramirez), the latter participating only because his brother is being held hostage. With this version of the story, including an incredibly insane car chase, everything goes over the deep end into the fantastic separated from the plausible. After pulling off a brilliantly executed plan, making fools of the Americans, killing everyone in his path toward his final objective, when all that stands in his way is a little girl, will the mastermind deviate from his mission?

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2008 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Patrick Ivers can be reached via e-mail at .