Lakeview Terrace: "I'm the po-lice! You have to do what I say!" and I say read this review. (Ok so I'm not the police but read my review anyway )
From the moment I first saw the trailer for "Lakeview Terrace" months ago, I was intrigued by the movie. Not by the story per se but because Samuel "Bad Motherfucker Wallet Carrying" Jackson was starring in it and he was doing what he does best; yelling at people. Nor will I ever forget Sam Jackson uttering what could possibly be the best line ever spoken in a movie "I'm the po-lice! You have to do what I say!" I mean come on with writing like that the movies bound to be great. Right?
Well let me just say this movie was fun to watch and quite entertaining...if you have the right mind set. And by right mindset I mean go in treating the movie as a comedy rather than a serious police thriller then you will enjoy it. Although I don't think that was director Neil Labute's intention. As a serious police thriller the movie fails on so many levels. But if you like to watch Sam Jackson yelling at people you will not be disappointed. He yells at men, women, children, asians, blacks, no one is spared.
The movie is about an interracial couple, Chris and Lisa Mattson (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington respectivly), that moves into a home in a quaint neighborhood in LA. Their neighbor is a strick, widowed, father of two by the name of Abel Turner (Samuel Jackson). Turner just so happens to be a 28 year verteran on the LAPD. From the get go it is apparent that Turner has a problem with interracial couples when he spies on the Mattsons as they move in. It isn't until much later in the film when we learn why he feels this way. Turner's already hostile nature toward the couple peaks when the couple decide to have sex in their pool and Turner's two children happen to see them. From that point forward Turner attempts to make the couples life miserable. For the purpose of either forcing them to move out or to ruin their marriage or even both. The couple are apprently unable to do anything because of Turner's staus in the LAPD and eventually resort to resisting and trying to make Turner's life miserable. So essentially the movie is about two stubborn children neither willing to back down.
It is apparent from the setup of film that it intended to carry a deeper message about what I'm not quite sure; maybe racism, family, or letting go of the past . It wanted to be a new "Crash" in a sense (which on a sidenote I thought was a lazy movie that played on stereotypes and was not at all deserving of the academy award for "best picture" but that's a story for another time anyway...) but fell flat on it's face. The message never materialized and that is one of the biggest problems with the film. It tries so hard to be thought provoking that the extra effort to do so is apparent and feels fake. It almost feels like the movie is an awkward boy trying so hard to impress a girl he likes but the harder he tries the stupider he looks. Even after all this effort, the message still happens to be vague in the end because the writers are trying to say too many things and none seem to really standout.
The movie also failed in the fact that the viewer never really connects with any of the characters. None of the characters are deserving of any compassion. I think the viewer is intended to be rooting for the Mattsons but they are really hard to like. To put it bluntly every character in the film is a self centered asshole. So rather than the viewer feeling for the characters, they simply look on and passively observe. The circumstances of the characters are seen but not felt by the viewer. So the film has no impact. Not to mention every one was overacting a bit and for a "serious" drama that doesn't really work.
Don't get me started about the plot. It was completely ridiculous as a whole. And aside from that it wasn't in the least bit original. It did nothing new. And the forest fire that was written in to intensify the final confrontation felt really contrived to simply add excitement into the environment. It was hard to take this movie seriously because the plot was something that in all likelihood would never be able to happen in real life. Also there are so many plot holes. Like for instance why the other neighbors put up with Turner's antics. The character development is awful. The writers just have the characters say things that explain their actions and expect the viewer to just buy it. There's no logic leading up to the explanation, it just sorta happens.
As a police thriller the movie fails horribly but it is still enjoyable to watch if you are a fan of Sam Jackson. He puts on a great performance. He isn't necessarily believable but he is the vintage yelling Sam Jackson many of us have come to know and love. The movie has some funny one liners and some scenes that are intended to be serious come off more comedic. The movie offered me personally a lot of probably unintentional laughs. If you go into the movie knowing what you're getting into you will thoroughly enjoy it. It is every bit as bad as you are led to believe by the trailer. But that unawareness to it's own awfulness is really what makes the movie an entertaining film.
Well let me just say this movie was fun to watch and quite entertaining...if you have the right mind set. And by right mindset I mean go in treating the movie as a comedy rather than a serious police thriller then you will enjoy it. Although I don't think that was director Neil Labute's intention. As a serious police thriller the movie fails on so many levels. But if you like to watch Sam Jackson yelling at people you will not be disappointed. He yells at men, women, children, asians, blacks, no one is spared.
The movie is about an interracial couple, Chris and Lisa Mattson (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington respectivly), that moves into a home in a quaint neighborhood in LA. Their neighbor is a strick, widowed, father of two by the name of Abel Turner (Samuel Jackson). Turner just so happens to be a 28 year verteran on the LAPD. From the get go it is apparent that Turner has a problem with interracial couples when he spies on the Mattsons as they move in. It isn't until much later in the film when we learn why he feels this way. Turner's already hostile nature toward the couple peaks when the couple decide to have sex in their pool and Turner's two children happen to see them. From that point forward Turner attempts to make the couples life miserable. For the purpose of either forcing them to move out or to ruin their marriage or even both. The couple are apprently unable to do anything because of Turner's staus in the LAPD and eventually resort to resisting and trying to make Turner's life miserable. So essentially the movie is about two stubborn children neither willing to back down.
It is apparent from the setup of film that it intended to carry a deeper message about what I'm not quite sure; maybe racism, family, or letting go of the past . It wanted to be a new "Crash" in a sense (which on a sidenote I thought was a lazy movie that played on stereotypes and was not at all deserving of the academy award for "best picture" but that's a story for another time anyway...) but fell flat on it's face. The message never materialized and that is one of the biggest problems with the film. It tries so hard to be thought provoking that the extra effort to do so is apparent and feels fake. It almost feels like the movie is an awkward boy trying so hard to impress a girl he likes but the harder he tries the stupider he looks. Even after all this effort, the message still happens to be vague in the end because the writers are trying to say too many things and none seem to really standout.
The movie also failed in the fact that the viewer never really connects with any of the characters. None of the characters are deserving of any compassion. I think the viewer is intended to be rooting for the Mattsons but they are really hard to like. To put it bluntly every character in the film is a self centered asshole. So rather than the viewer feeling for the characters, they simply look on and passively observe. The circumstances of the characters are seen but not felt by the viewer. So the film has no impact. Not to mention every one was overacting a bit and for a "serious" drama that doesn't really work.
Don't get me started about the plot. It was completely ridiculous as a whole. And aside from that it wasn't in the least bit original. It did nothing new. And the forest fire that was written in to intensify the final confrontation felt really contrived to simply add excitement into the environment. It was hard to take this movie seriously because the plot was something that in all likelihood would never be able to happen in real life. Also there are so many plot holes. Like for instance why the other neighbors put up with Turner's antics. The character development is awful. The writers just have the characters say things that explain their actions and expect the viewer to just buy it. There's no logic leading up to the explanation, it just sorta happens.
As a police thriller the movie fails horribly but it is still enjoyable to watch if you are a fan of Sam Jackson. He puts on a great performance. He isn't necessarily believable but he is the vintage yelling Sam Jackson many of us have come to know and love. The movie has some funny one liners and some scenes that are intended to be serious come off more comedic. The movie offered me personally a lot of probably unintentional laughs. If you go into the movie knowing what you're getting into you will thoroughly enjoy it. It is every bit as bad as you are led to believe by the trailer. But that unawareness to it's own awfulness is really what makes the movie an entertaining film.
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