April 18, 2014 (2014-04-18) (Tribeca Film Festival)
October 31, 2014 (2014-10-31) (United States)
Running time
82 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Point and Shoot is a 2014 documentary film written and directed by Marshall Curry. It was produced by Marshall Curry, Elizabeth Martin and Matthew VanDyke.[1]
Point and Shoot tells the story of Matthew VanDyke, a sheltered 26-year-old who left his Baltimore home and set off on a self-described "crash course in manhood."[2] While on a 35,000-mile motorcycle trip through Northern Africa and the Middle East, he struck up an unlikely friendship with a Libyan hippie. When revolution broke out in Libya, VanDyke decided to join his friend in the fight against dictator Muammar Gaddafi. With a gun in one hand and a camera in the other, VanDyke joined and documented the war until he was captured by Gaddafi forces and held for six months in solitary confinement.
The film has a 74% approval rating on review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, based on 54 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Thrilling and thought-provoking, Point and Shoot captures one man's fascinating — if troublingly narcissistic — 'crash course in manhood.'"[6]OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[7]
InThe Washington Post, Ann Hornaday described the film as an "absorbing, ingeniously crafted documentary" that gives the viewer a "street-level glimpse of the realities of war."[8]Stephen Holden wrote in The New York Times that the film suggests "the addictive rush of battlefield adventure is hard-wired into the male psyche."[9]Peter Bradshaw criticized the film in The Guardian, stating that the movie focusses on VanDyke himself and fails to explore the wider geopolitical context of the Libyan conflict.[10]
