Review of Arlington Road (1999) by Jim G — 04 Dec 2007

Arlington Road is a silly film. It tries to be intelligent, informed and political but its lofty ambitions add up to delusions of grandeur. It wears a dunce's hat and wants us to think it's a crown.

There is a twist towards the end of the film that goes some way to explaining the coincidences and contrivances that come before it, but it rubbishes everything that follows. You look at the film one way and it doesn't make much sense. You look at it another way and see just a different kind of nonsense. Somehow it pulls a great finale out of nowhere, one that makes you think better of the film until you remember that, actually, it wasn't out of nowhere; it was from The Parallax View.