Review of Lakeview Terrace (2008) by Timothy S — 11 Dec 2011

Looking at the film on paper, any movie buff would have to be excited over "Lakeview Terrace". The plot brings about a wealth of dark possibilities, a lot of dark alleys that this film could have explored. And you'd have to be excited by Neil LaBute sitting in the director's chair, looking to help us forget the disaster that was "The Wicker Man" and bring him back to his dark and twisted roots that made films like "In the Company of Men" so great. Unfortunately, the movie does none of that.

It's content with being a by-the-numbers, shallow and slick piece of Hollywood entertainment, and while it's not bad by any means, it's frustrating when a film that has such potential be content to settle for being a box office hit instead. LaBute's underwhelming streak continues.

You can't really fault the casting, though. Samuel L. Jackson, who apparently will never turn down any role that is offered to him, does a fine job as the guy you love to hate. He's a lot of fun, and I liked the fact that his co-stars aren't necessarily box office stars. Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington are both fine actors, and they're good in this as well, but their relative anonymity makes their plight feel real.

The film is entertaining, but the screenwriters short change the project every step of the way. Jackson's motivation is slim at best, and so much more could have been done to explore the race issue but the writers play it safe instead. It would have been interesting to see what someone like Spike Lee would have done with this material. He would have helped "Lakeview Terrace" be all it could be instead of just passable entertainment.