Lakeview Terrace (2008)

SPOILER: Movie Plot: A couple move into their California dream home, and they soon become a target of their next-door neighbour who disapproves of their interracial relationship.Review: Lakeview Terrace is a good film and is very Rewatchable. This flick was inspired by a real life story based on similar events, the real life story is featured in an episode of "Fear Thy Neighbour" and when you watch the documentary, this film seems very mild compared to that. Lakeview Terrace has good performances, good directing, and has a good story line. Here we have a case of black against white racism, the attitude of the racist cop Abel Turner (played by Samuel L. Jackson) is unfortunately quite common, we see that he regularly makes racial remarks hinting that black people are better than Caucasian people. We find out that he is against his new neighbour's marriage (played by Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) because of his paranoia about his late wife possibly having an affair with her "white boss" as he mentions, without having any proof that she was even having an affair, i might add.Abel (Samuel L. Jackson) is a likeable character, he does do some wrong things and abuses his power as a cop which gets him suspended, but he doesn't take any crap which is shown during a scene where a woman is rude about law enforcement at the new couple's late night wine get-together in their yard.Because Abel (Samuel L. Jackson) is still a likeable character, i think they went all wrong with the ending, i think they should have had him locked up or something, not having him shot dead. They chose the right casting for this film, and even though Patrick Wilson is good in this movie, he is a bit of a sissy, i prefer the character that he plays in the latest movie "The Commuter", even though he only has a small supporting role in that, he doesn't come across as wimpy like he does in this flick.Lakeview Terrace shows viewers the other end of the spectrum of racism. As a Black British person, i get fed up when some people say that "black people can't be racist", simply watch this film which is based on real events and anyone you may know in real life who has the same or a similar attitude to this man, if that's not racist - i don't know what is.

Neil LaBute kind of redeemed himself directing "Lakeview Terrace", after the awfully laughable remake of "The Wicker Man" ('06), which was tore apart by critics and was a box office failure of a colossal magnitude, that i still wonder how he got work handling another film.Here he filmed a daring screenplay by David Loughery, which reminds a lot of the domestic / psychological thrillers from the early 90's, such as John Schlesinger's "Pacific Heights" ('90) starring Melanie Griffith, Matthew Modine & Michael Keaton and especially, "Unlawful Entry" ('92) directed by Jonathan Kaplan and starring Kurt Russell, Madeleine Stowe & Ray Liotta.Samuel L. Jackson delivers one his best performances ever on-screen playing Abel Turner, a Los Angeles patrol cop and a widower trying to raise his two children in the multicultural middle-class neighbourhood of Lakeview Terrace, a suburban district in the north east quadrant of the San Fernando Valley, L.A. When an interracial newlywed couple, Chris and Lisa Mattson (played by Patrick Wilson & Kerry Washington) moves next door, Abel shows signs of intolerance and step by step reveals his bigotry towards Chris and things got worse when he's suspended from the LAPD after a case of police brutality and starts to falling down at a psychological level..."Lakeview Terrace" is visually appealing, elegantly shot by the camera of Rogier Stoffers, and competent directed by LaBute: he can provide tension at the right moments and handle the storytelling in a crescendo of menace, maintaining a sense of pace and at the same time giving space for the characters to develop.The audacious and provoking screenplay shows the other side of racism, the so-called 'reverse racism', a brave (& rather strange) move coming from the politically correct Hollywood, that at the same time deals with domestic disturbance; the difficulty for a widower to raise two underage children and patrolling one of the most crime infested areas of L.A., dealing in a daily basis with low life criminals.The only letdown that turns the movie away from being listed as a great film of its genre, it's the somewhat disappointig III Act, when the plot contrivances starts to go to the cliche route and the movie speeds up to near potboiler territory with an implausible climax.In acting terms, we can buy that Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington are a couple, they display good on-screen chemistry together, but Patrick's acting is so superior that completely overshadows Kerry's struggling to act her part. About Jackson, like i've mentioned above, he totally nails the Abe Turner's character and had the oportunity here to show his range as an accomplished character actor, instead of his usual stereotyped "Bad A**" with an attitude. Jay Hernandez from "Hostel" fame, adds nothing to the overall plot, his character serves the only purpose of being Jackson's partner in the Force and his sub-plot of leaving patrol to became a detective went nowhere. The experienced viewer may be guessing that he will have the same fate of Peter Berg in "Copland" ('97) or Roger E. Mosley in "Unlawful Entry", somekind of a relevance to be there, but not.In short, "Lakeview Terrace" is a piece of solid entertainment and an engaging film to follow with a re-watchable value, that could have been even better had the III Act being totally re-written and the more edgy scenes that are presented in the "deleted scenes" section of the DVD edition should not have been left in the cutting room floor, because it kind of enhances the story and give it a more sordid touch to the whole.As a footnote, it still surprises me how Will Smith could have produced a movie like this...

Lakeview Terrace is a very poor movie with a dull storyline and an overall uninspired cast.Samuel L. Jackson does a great job and will always be an outstanding actor,but he still wasn't enough to make this movie decent,the only scenes that I really liked were when we got to see his character working for the LAPD,which we saw very little of.Kerry Washington did the best she could with the character she was given,sadly it was a boring character that lacked any interesting personality traits,but I found Patrick Wilson's character very annoying,he wouldn't stick up to Jackson's character and couldn't defend his own household and I found the character unlikeable.Lakeview Terrace is a really slow and mediocre movie that I think people would be better off avoiding.A racist veteran LAPD cop starts a violent campaign of intimidation and harassment against his new neighbours because of their interracial relationship. Best Performance: Samuel L. Jackson Worst Performance: Patrick Wilson

It contains quite a punch does Lakeview Terrace, propelled by Samuel L. Jackson in a meaty lead role as a racist black cop with white issues, it is for the most part a riveting thriller. Jackson is Abel Turner, a single parent police officer raising two kids, he's stressed out, easily annoyed and his method of parenting and policing is leading him down the road to hell. So when inter-racial couple Chris (Patrick Wilson) and Lisa Mattson (Kerry Washington) move in next door, Abel tips over the edge and becomes the bad cop neighbour from hell.Director Neil LaBute (In the Company of Men) and his lead actors ensure the story doesn't become insulting to racial matters, both of relationships and of colour hatred, but after a great first two thirds of build up it, it then lacks the courage of its convictions, where taking the easy way out leaves a frustrating taste in the mouth.It's still a viable and very watchable thriller, it just isn't bold enough come the finale. 6/10