Lakeview Terrace

A so-so throwback to the kind of "yuppies in peril" movies that were popular in the early 90s.  Chris and Lisa Mattson (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) are a young interacial couple who have just moved into their first property on the seemingly serene Lakeview Terrace.  They soon receive the attention of Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson), an LAPD officer who has very fixed views on interacial couples, especially when his two kids peek into their neighbours' backyard to see Chris and Lisa having sex in the pool.  Tensions escalate in a believable fashion.  From Abel's security lights that keep the Mattsons awake at night, to an uncomfortable housewarming party and some barbed conversation about the rap music that Chris listens to and the cigarettes that he hides from his wife, all of these confrontations are scary because they feel like they could happen.

Things fall apart in the final act, where Abel's behaviour is explained simplistically and the movie veers into more obvious thriller territory.  Director Neil LaBute is also fond of some rather obvious metaphors, most notable the bush fires that are constantly raging in the background, threatening to destroy the suburbs where Chris and Lisa have made their home.  What's most frustrating, however, is that evidence of a more intelligent film exists here.  Lakeview Terrace flirts with ideas of boundaries (both social and political) and the screenplay does offer some interesting views on racial tensions in the 21st-century.  Jackson offers up a fierce performance, but you can't help but feel that we've seen it all before.  Both Wilson and Washington are impressive but are given precious little to work with.  An intriguing thriller, all the more irritating because it could have been so much better.