5Q Movie Review: Lakeview Terrace

Q: So what made you decide to see this?
A: I saw the preview playing on the On Demand channel and laughed my butt off. I had almost forgotten about "Lakeview Terrace." Though it didn't look worth the 5 bucks or whatever On Demand movies cost, Samuel L. Jackson as a bad-ass LAPD officer (what, he's gonna be a milquetoast?) menacing a young couple that moves in a next door looked well worth a free Redbox rental. It was.

Q: So this is a comedy?

A: Uh, no, not exactly, except in the sense that any movie that features Samuel L. Jackson intimidating unsuspecting people by glowering, growling, and being an all-around a-hole is a laugh riot. If today, in 2009 you still find Jackson awesome, you'll enjoy this movie. If you don't find Jackson awesome, maybe you need to go back to 2008 and try a little harder.

Q: If it's not a comedy, is it a good drama?
A: That's a big Y-E-S. You might expect director Neil LaBute to put some new kind of arty spin on this, but instead he "just" leads us through a simple yet effective thriller. It's a thriller that actually thrills even when you can see what's coming. "Lakeview Terrace" is pretty much exactly what you expect it to be, and in this case I mean that as a compliment. There is something to be said for quality filmmaking and interesting performances. I don't think I really just said it, but there is something to be said.

Q: Is there a racial component?
A: The couple Jackson intimidates is a mixed one played by Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington, and the racial undertones bubble for quite a while. Well, if they're bubbling, I guess they're all the way up on the surface, but you get my clumsy point. Late in the film, we get a big scene in which Jackson's troubled cop explains what his beef is with the world. This unnecessary bit of detail takes some of the mystique away from the character in giving him "reasons" to do what he does.

Q: Hey, cops don't really act like this--menacing civilians, abusing suspects, and banding together against outsiders just because--do they?
A: Well, it IS the LAPD. What, you missed the nineties? In all fairness, although big-city cops have challenging jobs, they will leave you be if you don't do anything to provoke them. You know, something like move next door to them, be an interracial couple, object to having a giant floodlight illuminate your house late at night, etc.