The Neighbor (2017)

I came across this movie on Amazon Prime tv shows and movies app. I was genuinely surprised to see that it wasn't a bad film, considering how many people have been bashing this movie. I will start off saying that the plot is pretty predictable. As the movie unfolds you have an idea of what is going to happen for almost every scene. The movies pacing is very slow and it's almost entirely dependent on dialogue, which isn't a bad thing since most of the dialogue should keep you interested. This is also a simple movie to watch that doesn't require you to think much. The movie keeps things simple and easy to follow and you'll have an easy time following it.I thought the acting was pretty good for the most part. Jenna and Scott played convincing roles and the side characters like Mikes friend, his son and his wife do their parts. However, I wasn't crazy about our main character, Mike. I thought he was very stiff and awkward. His actions and his movements seem slow motion and robotic. He's also quite uninteresting when he speaks which is a shame because he's our main lead. He doesn't kill the movie, but he may bore you frequently. For a film I would never have heard of if I didn't browse Amazon prime, The Neighbour is a solid time. Even though it's very predictable; to me this movie stands out a bit and it's one of the more decent films I've seen in a while.

1) Fully a third of the movie was just Fichtner looking at someone silently. 2) The character Ficthner plays is truly an alcoholic. Good grief at the beer! 3 He is also a letch. 4) The ending was quite unfulfilling!

Did I say boring? I'm dumber for having watched this.

Mike is a good guy. He is a passive, nondescript, laid-back writer of technical manuals, working out of his home. He is a family man, a gardener, and a good cook. But his voyeuristic impulses lead him to become enmeshed in a drama of spousal abuse next door. Is Mike being a good neighbor? Or is he driven by his baser male instincts in the intervention? This modest domestic tragedy might best be called "The Tragedy on Meadowpark Drive."It is clear that the filmmakers were writing a morality play with characters representing individual human traits. Mike's wife Lisa is the one-dimensional version of the shrew, rarely showing affection for her husband and clearly calling all the shots in the relationship. Rarely will Mike discuss his wants, needs, and dreams, as Lisa is the controlling figure and shows no concern for her soft male husband. When Mike recalls "Santa Barbara," he was undoubtedly thinking of an exciting time in their relationship that was filled with romance. But for Lisa, Santa Barbara is a forgotten moment in the past that she only associates with sex. Could anyone possibly be more crass and cruel than Lisa for summarily ordering Mike out of the house after he intervened on behalf of the woman next door?Scott, the new neighbor is a loud-mouthed car salesman and wife-beater. His shallowness and violent temper are his primary traits. One of Scott's goals is to produce babies with Jenna and have a big family. He is obviously unaware of the damage to the planet that he is leaving in his wake in siring a brood of "little Scotts."Jenna is the flirtatious, flaky, and vulnerable wife of Scott, who is unable to bring herself to get out of an abusive relationship. But that doesn't stop her from shamelessly flirting with Mike, leaning on him when she is depressed, and leading him on to the degree that he eventually crosses the line of propriety. Of course, the Everyman character of the film is Mike. In Jenna, Mike deludes himself into seeing her as the answer to all that is missing in his stultifying existence. He may be egged on by his callous friend Brian. But the fatal decisions are made by Mike himself. Mike's major flaw is that he violates that the good neighbor policy by walking into the home of Brian and Jenna in response to her scream. Lisa had warned him, "Call the police!" in the future. But that advice never registers with a poor schlub who never seems grounded enough in reality to behave like an adult. When he finally does take a stand, the result is the tragedy on Meadowpark Drive.