Review of Lakeview Terrace (2008) by Arnaud C — 17 Aug 2010

The issue of color comes up so often within the two hour running time of Lakeview Terrace that it tends to be strongly polarizing. Make that bi-polarizing. Race (black and white) is one issue entirely but the fact that the movie also places law enforcement (blue) at the forefront should make for doubling intriguing viewing?should. The movie is sure to rankle audiences, albeit it for the wrong reasons. By wrapping these incendiary topics within the confines of a slick H?Wood thriller, the flick seems to want entertain more than provoke thought. In the end, it does not do much of either. An amazingly layered performance, however, is sure to keep viewers invested up until the end.

In the PG-13-rated thriller Lakeview Terrace, a tightly wound LAPD officer (Jackson) terrorizes the interracial couple that moves into the house next door.

Richard Widmark?s Tommy Udo in Kiss of Death. Robert Mitchum?s Harry Powell in The Night of the Hunter. Kathy Bates?s Annie Wilkes in Misery. These are some of the hypnotically villainous turns that put otherwise decent films onto a higher mantle. And your reviewer is not arguing that Jackson?s Abel Turner is either a villain or that this movie is better than it really is?just that Lakeview Terrace is worth watching if not just for his performance. The middling screenplay tries to build some compassion into the troubled cop a la Denzel Washington?s Alonzo in Training Day. In the end, however, Jackson wrestles more out of this role than his last five paychecks combined.

Bottom line: Doom with a view.