Lakeview Terrace (Neil LaBute, 2008)

[Antoine Doinel]

Here's the trailer. Despite the hackiness of the trailer, I'm holding out some hope. One, the criminally underrated Patrick Wilson is a good Aaron Eckhart substitute. Second, the racial/sexual politics of the subject matter are ripe stomping grounds for LaBute. It will be interesting to see if this turns out to be smarter than the trailer suggets.

[flyonthewall2983]

I seem to remember reading about this project with another director with Sam attached but Ashton Kutcher playing the other role. Surprised to see my fellow Hoosier LaBute at the helm.

[Antoine Doinel]

Roger Ebert talks to LaBute about the film which seems to be a bit more (though not much) nuanced than the trailer would suggest. But be advised, they talk specifically about the ending.

[mfunk9786]

I must say, some of these reviews have me intrigued.

Roger Ebert talks to LaBute

"He comes with a sense of cool. It’s nice to see him play the bad guy, like in 'Training Day.' And yet he brings a kind of a heartbreaking quality to it.

Psst... Neil, that was Denzel.

[swo17]

I think it was actually Morgan Freeman. :-k

[moviscop]

well, the trailers sucked, but i might just end up spending some time this weekend seeing it.

[mfunk9786]

This was surprisingly really good. It worked as a relationship story, a thriller, and a metaphor about the way people relate to one another, and was reminiscent of Straw Dogs in that respect. See this before you let the critics' reaction get you down.

[tavernier]

Armond disagrees with you.

[mfunk9786]

The film was actually written by David Loughery and Howard Korder and produced by Will Smith, exercising his Mr. Hyde side. That means Smith is responsible for perpetrating the outlandish pairing of Jackson and LaBute, two of the most scandalous scoundrels in film history. This tripartite conspiracy to make a racist thriller lets Jackson be the bad guy, adding to his resume of black male stereotypes; and allows LaBute to continue his crimes against art.

[tavernier]

The film was actually written by David Loughery and Howard Korder and produced by Will Smith, exercising his Mr. Hyde side. That means Smith is responsible for perpetrating the outlandish pairing of Jackson and LaBute, two of the most scandalous scoundrels in film history. This tripartite conspiracy to make a racist thriller lets Jackson be the bad guy, adding to his resume of black male stereotypes; and allows LaBute to continue his crimes against art.

We need more Armond-specific emoticons.

[Joe Buck]

I saw it tonight, only because my wife wanted to. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't mind it. It was fair.

[Magic Hate Ball]

My boyfriend doesn't want to see this because he thinks it will make him angry, so I will take him promptly. It'll probably piss me off, too (I'm easily manipulated by films, and I enjoy it because I hate myself or something).

[LQ]

I personally found it to be a great b-movie. I had a lot of fun getting all caught up in it, as I have a habit of doing with ridiculously over-the-top thrillers. It certainly isn't as god-awful as the critics make it out to be.

[Antoine Doinel]

Saw this tonight and it's every bit as awful as most critics would have you believe. I can't remember the last time I saw a film that so cowardly ran away from race issues. The opening of the film is very promising, with issues of the fallout of interracial marriage (of both races); generational gap in the black community; whites males "conquering" other races sexually all being brought up in an intriguing framework. However, it basically explains all the tension in the film away by making Sam Jackson's character a crazy person who is collapsing under what he sees on the job. The latter half of the film includes some really preposterous plot turns that all lead to a final scene that actually belongs in a much better movie. If you ever wanted to see a Neil LaBute film where he carefully avoids making any provocative statements or insights, this is the film for you. I'm not even sure why the race card was even played. This might as well of been just about two white neighbors who don't get along.

[colinr0380]

If you ever wanted to see a Neil LaBute film where he carefully avoids making any provocative statements or insights, this is the film for you.

It sounds like this will be a front runner for the Oscars next year!

[Joe Buck]

I wasn't really looking for any enlightening morals or intelligent statements regarding race or society from this film. It was just a suspense thriller. Nothing more. . It gave the characters something interesting to talk about in between the "Grumpy Old Men" dueling neighbors stuff. Sam Jackson's unease with the interracial couple was just a handy backdrop. It was "Unlawful Entry" crossed with "Guess Who?". Just a popcorn flick. It's not like I was watching "Crash" or something.