Spring Break
'Lakeview Terrace' worth watching
Kari Albsmeyer
Issue date: 9/24/08 Section: The Edge
Samuel L. Jackson stars in the new thriller "Lakeview Terrace," released this past weekend. Jackson plays the role of Abel Turner, a widower trying to raise his two children with tough love - and he is failing miserably. ?Turner is also an LAPD cop with a bad attitude and a problem with interracial couples, so when married interracial couple Chris and Lisa Mattson (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) move in next door to Turner, trouble arises.
At first, Chris thinks his neighbor just has a really odd sense of humor, but soon realizes that his neighbor is serious when he makes jokes about the couple living in the neighborhood and being together. After that, it doesn't take long for Chris and Turner to start a vicious battle.
Set against the subplot of wildfires closing in on their neighborhood, the two men are constantly fighting with each other and trying to make the other one miserable. ?The constant battles between the two men create tension between Chris and Lisa, which makes Turner very happy and the movie ends with a huge blow-up between the two men after Turner has someone break into the house and Lisa gets assaulted. ?
This movie is like most movies about crazy cops who've gone mad with power, although it is a bit more captivating. Turner irritates everyone with his arrogant can't-touch-me attitude, and it grasps the audience and makes it impossible to look away.
Director Neil LaBute did an amazing casting job. The part of Turner would not have been an easy one to cast or play, but Jackson does a phenomenal job making his character the favorite as well as the most hated by the audience. ?
Patrick Wilson also does a great job in this movie. He makes the audience understand what he is dealing with while also making people think about what they would do if they were in his shoes.
There are not many special effects in the movie, but the footage of the wildfires is great, even if it is more likely footage of the wildfires out in California this past summer than any studio-created fire.
All in all, the movie was pretty good. Not great, but worth seeing at least once. ?
At first, Chris thinks his neighbor just has a really odd sense of humor, but soon realizes that his neighbor is serious when he makes jokes about the couple living in the neighborhood and being together. After that, it doesn't take long for Chris and Turner to start a vicious battle.
Set against the subplot of wildfires closing in on their neighborhood, the two men are constantly fighting with each other and trying to make the other one miserable. ?The constant battles between the two men create tension between Chris and Lisa, which makes Turner very happy and the movie ends with a huge blow-up between the two men after Turner has someone break into the house and Lisa gets assaulted. ?
This movie is like most movies about crazy cops who've gone mad with power, although it is a bit more captivating. Turner irritates everyone with his arrogant can't-touch-me attitude, and it grasps the audience and makes it impossible to look away.
Director Neil LaBute did an amazing casting job. The part of Turner would not have been an easy one to cast or play, but Jackson does a phenomenal job making his character the favorite as well as the most hated by the audience. ?
Patrick Wilson also does a great job in this movie. He makes the audience understand what he is dealing with while also making people think about what they would do if they were in his shoes.
There are not many special effects in the movie, but the footage of the wildfires is great, even if it is more likely footage of the wildfires out in California this past summer than any studio-created fire.
All in all, the movie was pretty good. Not great, but worth seeing at least once. ?
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