Review of Lakeview Terrace (2008) by Scott W — 11 Aug 2010

Sammy Jackson is a racist cop who, for no apparant reason, has a problem with a mixed race couple (Patrick Wilson & Kerry Washington) living in his neighbourhood.

The first forty-five minutes of this movie is rather solid. However, it's big problem is that for the entire period it's just hanging over your head that this guy is going out of his way to make their lives a living hell without any real motivation. Eventually, they do give us what seemed to be an excuse for his racist habits, but it really doesn't justify anything that he's done up to that point.

Now, the acting is pretty solid, especially from Sammy Jackson, but it's therein that lies the problem. His character seems to elevate throughout the movie; starting as just a stern guy who disaproves of these two, then to a racist bully, but then to a psychopath. This guy gets to a point where you wonder if he puts on a hockey mask in his spare time and just kills teenagers for fun. This guy is dan...ger..ous.

This movie could've worked so much better if it could've just given us a good reason why Jackson should hate these two people, and they are some of the friendliest people you could meet. The worst thing about them is the husband's secret smoking problem.

The movie all plays out very well which won it 40% with me, but it was just hard to like it when this guy goes so insane without any reason. By the end of the movie, the level of crazy he gets needs to be explained, and that just really keeps this movie from getting anywhere.