Point and Shoot
Point and Shoot
| 19 April 2014 (USA)
Point and Shoot Trailers

At first glance, Matthew VanDyke—a shy Baltimore native with a sheltered upbringing and a tormenting OCD diagnosis—is the last person you’d imagine on the front lines of the 2011 Libyan revolution. But after finishing grad school and escaping the U.S. for "a crash course in manhood," a winding path leads him just there. Motorcycling across North Africa and the Middle East and spending time as an embedded journalist in Iraq, Matthew lands in Libya, forming an unexpected kinship with a group of young men who transform his life. Matthew joins his friends in the rebel army against Gaddafi, taking up arms (and a camera). Along the way, he is captured and held in solitary confinement for six terrifying months.

Reviews
Cebalord

Very best movie i ever watch

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Stevecorp

Don't listen to the negative reviews

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Adeel Hail

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

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Bumpy Chip

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

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vasean-71009

This film could have easily been a docu-comedy if edited differently. But instead we are expected to take a delusional Matthew Vandyke seriously as he hits the road to battle his mild OCD, fight alongside rebel forces, get captured and imprisoned, and create a fictionalzed character for himself along the way. At first it was easy and entertaining to laugh at the observations and realizations that spew from Vandyke's mouth. But as the documentary is edited in such a way to reinforce Vandyke's idea of himself and his "adventure", I found myself becoming annoyed in the character occupying my TV who I'm suppose to be taking seriously. I think it's also worth mentioning Matthew's inflated idea self of importance, and misguided adventure would be funny if not for what he's continued to do since, and especially do to the success of Point and Shoot. The character that Vandyke created in Point he has bizarrely continued to personify long after the film ends. And again this two would also be funny except he's used his notoriety to meddle even more extensively in various other middle eastern affairs. It's unfortunate that Point and Shoot somehow has earned Vandyke credibility and a platform.

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MartinHafer

We are in a self-absorbed world. Thanks to the internet, we have Facebook, Twitter and many other sources where anyone can voice their opinion and talk about themselves...incessantly. And, we have cellphones with cameras...so people can endlessly text about themselves and send pictures of themselves. Whether any of this is worthwhile or interesting...who cares, as we are now the generation of ME! In light of this, a film like "Point and Shoot" isn't at all surprising because of its inherent narcissism...whether or not there really is anything to tell.The film consists of a bazillion bits of video footage made by an obsessive-compulsive guy, Matthew Van Dyke. He films EVERYTHING during his travels--close ups of dirty toilets, himself falling off his motorcycle (probably because he was filming himself), boo boos he gets along the way as well as...well, just about everything. Most of it is very dull and extremely narcissistic. It's only when Matthew happens to fall in the middle of the Libyan revolution does it get less tedious. But even then, instead of being a HUGE story about the Arab Spring, too often it's really just about him. The reviewer Leofwine_draca felt that during much of the film, the focus was on the wrong things...and I clearly agree with them.For me, I'd much rather see a documentary just about the Arab Spring--such as the great Oscar-nominated films "Karama Has No Walls" or "The Square"--not a film that mostly seems like an annoying vanity project. Lots of folks died for freedom and focusing on them and their cause should be THE focus of any documentary on these uprisings.

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sixbells99

An incredible film that manages to capture mental illness, narcissism and the Arab Spring from the inside. The film starts off with an interesting concept with Matthew Vandyke who feels he's lead a sheltered life and needs to become a man. So he buys a motorbike and travels alone to the most dangerous places in the world.During this journey we see him film first hand his mental illness which at times is painful to watch. Then the film takes an unexpected turn and we are given new and colorful characters as Mathew embarks on his mission to join the fight in Libya with his new found Libyan friends.Impossible to label the director keeps the film focused and it's an unforgettable journey into a man's mental illness manifesting itself in the backdrop of the Arab uprising. Totally unique, compelling and brilliant!

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jstrick1985

This movie contains two different stories, jammed together in a tight 83-minute runtime. The one story, showing remarkable footage of the Libyan civil war, is an unusually privileged window into the Arab Spring.The other story, the story of Matt Van Dyke himself, is a tendentious and even tedious tale of a privileged American thrill-seeker.You can sum up Van Dyke's story in three sentences. A bored 27-year-old, with no job and few friends, decides to go on a motorcycle trip across the Middle East and record his adventures. Eventually he joins his new Libyan motorcycle buddies in their war against Qaddafi, although he doesn't accomplish very much other than getting thrown in prison. After he miraculously survives, Van Dyke takes his footage back to America and begins his new egotistical adventure: trying to become the man he always dreamed of being.The film is a mix of VanDyke's original footage from the Middle East and an interview he did after returning to America. To his credit, he is handsome. But his constant vanity and posing for the camera is tiresome and immature. Van Dyke is especially obsessed with how the media portrays him.And "Point and Shoot" has some serious problems. Although VanDyke's soliloquy is occasionally interrupted by the director, Marshall Curry, his narrative goes unquestioned and unchecked. For example, Van Dyke is thrown into Libyan prison for months, and says that he spent the time regretting how his actions have hurt his loved ones back in Baltimore, who are worrying over him. But as soon as Van Dyke is freed, he ignores everyone's advice to return to America, and instead decides to stay and fight, further troubling his mom and girlfriend.Not having anyone push Van Dyke made this movie less a documentary and more of a vanity project. We were left with many, many questions after seeing the film. Van Dyke didn't have a job, so who paid for his long motorcycle trips overseas? How much time elapsed between different trips? Quick Googling revealed some of the holes in how VanDyke's story is presented, too. The film never mentions this, but Van Dyke annoyed many journalists with his decision to stay in Libya and fight. See the story "VanDyke's deception increases risks for journalists." That seemed like a pretty big news event to gloss over.Having seen "Street Fight," I was excited to watch more of Marshall Curry's work. But while that movie focused on someone trying to make a real difference, activist Cory Booker, this movie only appears interested in making a difference for Matt Van Dyke's fragile ego.

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