An unconventional timeline, clever plot and strong performances push this action thriller in to better than average' territory.

Vantage Point literally explodes on to the screen as, within minutes of opening, an assassin shoots the President of the USA (William Hurt) as he is about to sign an anti-terrorism treaty on Spanish soil.

Secret serviceman Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid), back on the job post nervous breakdown after taking a bullet, needs to act fast to catch the culprit but an explosion nearby and a devastating bomb in the central plaza causes chaos as people literally run for their lives.

This 11-minute sequence is first seen through the eyes of a TV news producer played by Sigourney Weaver who, despite having a team of camera crews feeding her images to a bank of TV screens, cannot decipher what has happened.

Then Brit director Pete Travis hits rewind and we see the action from the vantage points of various eye witnesses including a tourist (Forest Whitaker), who catches key parts of the action on his camcorder, and secret serviceman Barnes who is determined to hunt down the culprits who seem to be outwitting the US establishment at every turn.

Each time we see the action from a different point of view we learn more about what is really going on. The director deliberately challenges our preconceptions of who we can trust and there are a couple of decent plot twists thrown into the mix too.

Structurally this movie is refreshing. Despite some parallels with hit US TV drama 24 - especially in terms of its lone action man saving the day and use of an on-screen clock - it is original in its use of different perspectives to tell the story.

Dennis Quaid makes a decent job of fleshing out the role of the deadly agent Barnes but is physically less convincing as a trained killer who tracks terrorists single-handedly. He is behind the wheel in a jaw-dropping, death-defying car chase through the crowded streets which is brilliantly executed if a little overlong.

Forest Whitaker's wide-eyed tourist, who poignantly befriends a young Spanish girl, provides the heart of this movie and Lost's Matthew Fox puts in an impressive turn as Barnes' secret service pal Kent Taylor.

Although the film's conclusion leaves us with some unanswered questions about the terrorists' final objective, Vantage Point is definitely worth the slightly bumpy ride.