Lakeview Terrace
Tags: dramatic, violence, suspenseful

Plot synopsis:
In California, Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson) rises from his bed. A news report can be heard giving info about a huge wildfire burning somewhere in the state. Abel picks up a picture of himself and his black wife that is face down on a night table, looks at it, then leaves the room.At the kitchen table, Abel gives his son, Marcus (Jaishon Fisher), and daughter, Celia (Regine Nehy), a hard time for not living up to a couple of his many rules. Marcus and Celia leave for school. Outside, they notice the coming of new neighbors Chris Mattson (Patrick Wilson) and his wife Lisa (Kerry Washington), in addition to Lisa's father (Ron Glass). Abel spies on his new next-door neighbors, and while doing so, sees Chris, who is white, kissing Lisa, who is black. Abel is revolted. Later that night, Chris and Lisa awaken to Abel's house security light shining brightly into their bedroom.The next day, Abel, who is a police officer, and his partner Javier (Jay Hernandez) question informant Clarence Darlington (Keith Loneker). Clarence gives the officers info, and he and Abel have a tiff regarding Clarence's supposed ancestry. Clarence tells Abel that he's messed up in the head.Chris pulls his car in front of his new house that night, jamming to rap music. While he relaxes, Abel knocks on his car window. Chris rolls down his window and a shadowy Abel puts a gun to his head, forcing him to give up his wallet. Abel tells Chris to never roll his window down in such an instance again, handing him back his wallet. The men converse for awhile. Abel tells Chris that no matter how much he listens to rap, in the end, he'll still be white.Chris parks the car, takes a final puff of a cigarette, and flicks it toward Abel's yard. Chris enters the backyard and finds Lisa in the swimming pool. He joins her, then they undress and make out. Next door, Abel and his children see this spectacle through a window. Abel is angered by this. Later, Chris and Lisa lie together in their bedroom and discuss the prospect of having a child. Chris realizes that their air conditioning isn't working. The couple investigate in the backyard, and discover that a cord in the A/C unit has been cut. They also find a burnt-out cigarette with a screw pushed through it, and then Abel's security light comes on.The next day, Chris questions Abel about his security light. Abel rebuffs him, mentioning the arroyo in their backyards where wayward kids sometimes stalk as his reason to keep the light on.Later in her house, Lisa sees a ball land in her swimming pool, then notices Marcus and Celia in the next-door yard. She tells them to get the ball. Lisa tells the kids that they can swim in the pool anytime they like, as long as they ask their parents. Celia says that their mother died. Lisa tells them that Abel's authoritarian ways will improve, but Celia says they won't. Lisa invites the kids to her housewarming party.That evening, Chris visits Abel's house and asks him about the security light again; Abel says he wasn't able to turn it off. Chris and Abel take a walk around the neighborhood as part of Abel's informal watchman rounds. Chris tells Abel that he and Lisa plan to be in their new house for a few years. Abel says he's trying to raise his kids properly, stating that they saw the Mattsons making out in their swimming pool. Abel suggests that the Mattsons live some other place instead.Abel arrives at the Mattsons' party, without Marcus and Celia. In the backyard, one of the Mattsons' friends asks Abel what he does for a living; he responds he's a cop. Abel mentions the cigarette butts that Chris flicks into his yard so Lisa won't see them. Lisa is surprised. One of the friends voices a negative opinion about police, and Abel confronts her. The girl's male friend mentions aggressiveness on the part of some police; Abel browbeats both of them in response. On Abel's way out, Chris accosts him about bringing up the cigarette butts. Abel is totally defiant, and smiles wickedly at Chris. The security light comes on behind Abel, who goes home.Later that night, Chris and Lisa are awakened by the car alarm going off in their garage. They go to investigate it, and find the garage door open and the car's tires slashed. Angrily, Chris rushes outside, hoping to catch the vandal, to no avail. Next door, Abel talks to Chris and Lisa from his balcony, saying he heard some noises from their backyard. Later, the police arrive and tell the Mattsons there's not much they can do for them.Lisa and Chris have dinner with Lisa's father; Chris recounts his experiences with Abel thus far to him. Lisa's father suggests that they put their house back on the market. Lisa's father asks Chris how he expects to protect the children he plans to have with Lisa. Chris sarcastically says he's going to build an arsenal.Chris buys a security light for his house and positions it so that it will shine at nights directly into Abel's bedroom. The wildfire closes on the Mattsons' neighborhood, its smoke visible from their balcony. That night, an uneasy Abel, trying to sleep, wakes up and stares toward Chris' light that is glaring at him through his window blinds.The following day, Abel and his partner Javier answer a call, driving to an apartment building with people waiting in front of it. They're told a man has his wife and daughter in his apartment, may have a gun, and says he's going to kill them both. The two cops approach the apartment that yelling can be heard from. Abel knocks on the door and tries to talk to Damon Richards (Caleeb Pinkett), the man inside of the place, but Damon blasts a large hole in the door, narrowly missing Abel. Damon escapes through a window. Abel pursues Damon, who shoots at him again with a shotgun, missing him.Cornered at a gate, Damon points the shotgun under his own chin, threatening suicide. Abel steps closer to him, telling him to calm down, then grabs Damon's gun and cocks it. Abel tells Damon to kill himself, grabs the shotgun, and hits him in the chest with it. Abel asks Damon if this is going to happen again, and tells Damon to take responsibility for his child. Javier steps up behind Abel, who tells him to cuff Damon.As Lisa works at her computer, she hears Celia in her backyard, swimming in the pool. Lisa says to Celia that it's okay to swim there if her father said so; Lisa thinks he didn't. Celia gets out of the pool, and she and Lisa talk. Celia asks Lisa how much she should like a white guy if he's going to be her boyfriend. Lisa says she should like him a lot, especially if he's to be her boyfriend. Celia starts dancing in her two-piece swimsuit to the song playing on Lisa's sound system. Abel motors his vehicle into his driveway, and, hearing the two womens' talk, enters Lisa's backyard.Abel surprises the two women, asking Celia if he gave her permission to come to the Mattsons' house. Celia says no. Lisa and Abel start bickering. Celia talks back to Abel, ridiculing him, and he slaps her in the face. Celia runs out of the yard. Lisa tells Abel to leave her property and he responds, "Or what?" Abel leaves a distressed Lisa alone.Later that evening, Chris and Lisa sit in the backyard together. Chris notes that Abel doesn't have his security light on. Lisa suggests that they put their house back on the market. Chris asks her if she wants to sell the place, mentioning Abel and her father as people who might try to decide it for them. Lisa gets offended, but kisses him. Abel watches her leave Chris alone from his property, smiling.Marcus and Celia leave with their Aunt Dorrie for a two-week stay with her.Lisa breaks the surprise news to Chris that she's pregnant. He asks her about her birth control pills and she says that she missed a few days. Chris is very unnerved by this seemingly deliberate inaction on Lisa's part, and they have an argument.Abel is told by a superior officer to take time off from his job due to a suit against the department brought by Damon Richards. An investigator working for internal affairs mentions that Abel has a number of "question marks" on his record.Outside, Abel runs into a group of cops talking and laughing. They mention that they're throwing a bachelor party for one of their cop buddies. Abel tells them to bring it to his house, saying his kids are gone and they can party all night there.At about 3:00 the next morning, Chris lies awake in bed next to Lisa, hearing loud music from next door. Chris gets up, goes to the bathroom, and inspects Lisa's birth control pills. Lisa is awakened by the music. She heads off to tell Abel to turn the music down. Chris stops her, telling her that he'll handle it. Chris gets rebuffed by the cops at Abel's front door; he enters the house through the back door. Inside it, Abel tells Chris that they can make peace over drinks. Abel makes jokes about Chris to his face, then guides him to a room where female strippers are dancing. One of the strippers leads the fatigued Chris to the room's center, where she dances against him. A cop records this with a camera. Chris tries to leave, but two cops throw him to the floor and hold him down while the stripper dances over him. Abel makes a rude comment about Lisa and Chris charges at him; Chris is stopped and forced out of the house.When Chris gets home, he searches for his camcorder to record what Abel is doing. Lisa questions him, and he tells her that she didn't forget to take her birth control pills. He tells Lisa that he doesn't know who she is anymore.Lisa gets the mail from her mailbox while Abel works on his car next door. She finds a DVD in the mail. Lisa plays it, and is surprised to see footage of Chris being danced over by the stripper at Abel's party. Lisa steps outside and glares at Abel.Chris has numerous trees planted along the gate dividing the Mattsons' property from Abel's yard. Chris and Lisa sit in their yard, talking about their problems, when they hear the sound of an electric tool nearby. They go to investigate it, and see Abel cutting down the new trees. Abel says the Mattsons didn't ask his permission to plant the trees -- but since they're hanging onto his property, he can cut them down without permission. Abel and Chris get into an aggressive spat across the fence. An upset Lisa runs off and Chris follows her, leaving Abel alone.Chris sits at a bar, drinking a drink and watching television footage of the nearby wildfire as Abel comes in, sitting next to him. Abel explains that the barmaid has a gun hidden behind the bar, so there shouldn't be any violence between them. Abel says he's had a bad day and encourages Chris to stay awhile, buying him another drink. Abel says today is the third anniversary of his wife's death. He explains that his wife had become a home-care aide for mostly sick people. Abel says that three years ago, he got a phone call saying his wife was in a head-on collision in a car; she died later on a gurney because the hospital workers treated her based on her race. Abel wonders aloud what his wife was doing with her employer, a white male, on the freeway when she should've been at work. Chris asks what this has to do with him. Abel says nothing, except that Chris and Lisa moved to the wrong place at the wrong time. Abel yells that white males think they can take "whatever" they want, and he detests it. Chris tells him, "f--- you," then walks off, saying he and Lisa aren't moving.There are now multiple wildfires advancing closer to Abel and the Mattsons' area. Abel coerces Clarence to break into Chris and Lisa's house while they're away at a nearby party, and vandalize their belongings. Lisa returns home early, catching Clarence off-guard. Lisa sets off the alarm, prompting Chris (and Abel, who's trying to keep from getting discovered) to run from the party to the Mattsons' house. Clarence picks Lisa up and throws her to the floor, knocking her unconscious. Moments later, Abel shoots Clarence dead in the Mattsons' backyard. Abel looks around the body for Clarence's cell phone that was used to call him, but cannot find it.Chris and Lisa talk in the hospital where she is tended to for her injuries from Clarence during their scuffle. She and the baby are basically fine. Meanwhile, Abel stares from his house at the police investigation going on at the Mattsons' residence. The wildfire is so close that people in the area are being asked to evacuate it. After the police leave, Abel goes into the Mattsons' house and calls Clarence's phone with his cell phone, hoping to find it. He's halted by the Mattsons' arrival and exits. Before going into the house, Chris thanks Abel for putting down Clarence, saying he'll vouch for Abel if it's needed. Chris finds Clarence's cell phone by a bed and calls the last number that was called on it. Next door, Abel answers the call. Realizing he's caught, Abel pulls out his gun while Chris watches him through a window, and stalks into the Mattsons' house. Chris surprises Abel and beats him down. Chris hands Clarence's cell phone to Lisa and tells her to go to the police, saying that Abel had Clarence break into their house. Lisa drives off to do as she's told, but Abel gets outside and shoots her car, causing her to have a crash. Chris tackles Abel and pounds on him some more, taking his gun away from him.Chris, carrying Abel's gun, gets to the car as Abel fires at it with a second handgun. Chris points Abel's gun at him, who approaches Chris and Lisa, who is still inside of the car. As the police drive up behind Chris, Abel hides his handgun behind his back and under his belt. The police, Lisa and Abel all tell Chris to put down Abel's gun. In desperation, Chris yells at Abel about his dead wife, whom Abel suspects had cheated on him with her white boss. Abel snaps, shooting Chris in the shoulder, and the police shoot Abel dead. In an ambulance, Lisa comforts Chris, who says they're going to have a family.

Review: The only acting problems I saw were 2-3 moments from Kerry Washington where her sad face was done poorly, with overly done lip quivers and facial movements (similar to Kirsten Dunst's crying scenes from the Spider-Man movies, except done in a BAD way).With a movie like this, you pretty much have these possible outcomes: 1) the generic, semi-predictable ending (like we got here).
In this context, seven denotes the number of wince inducing minutes it takes for Lakeview Terrace to throw it all away.Particular genres of movies tend to have a nasty propensity to ruin their final acts, the foremost of those being thrillers and horror films.
Jackson plays Abel Turner a veteran, but widowed LAPD officer who lives his daughter Celia (Regine Nehy) and Son Marcus (Jaishon Fisher) on Lakeview Terrace in the hills.
When i saw the trailer for this movie i immediately compared it to "pacific heights" which stars Michael Keaton and is a favorite movie of mine, i am not a fan of Samuel L Jackson i have never really enjoyed his work and the few movies he has been in lately including "the cleaner" did not help my view on his acting, so going into this movie i was determined i would not like it and i was wrong , the first thing i want to clear up is this isn't like the movie i compared it to, it deals with racism but from the other end which i have never seen before in a movie, And secondly Samule L Jackson does great in this role as a cop with a grudge, the story is more than what you would think and the trailers did not give anything away, it is not a complicated movie with twists but it is a movie that is different from previous films with this type of aim.
Jackson goes from this stern, uptight guy to a bully, to a chainsaw maniac killer, to just plain psychotic, and honestly this guy is never given a solid reason why he turns this way, you're just left with five million questions and on of the worst endings I've ever seen.Chris and Lisa, an inter-racial couple, the nicest couple you will ever meet, the couple you would love to be friends with finally got a home of their own in what seems like a very nice neighborhood...
Chris Mattson (Patrick Wilson) and Lisa Mattson (Kerry Washington) are greeted with hostility by their new neighbor, LAPD Sergeant Abel Turner (Samuel L.
Viewers struggle to tell if Jackson is truly well meaning or actually the world's worst neighbor.The objects of his disaffection are Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington, the interracial couple who move in next door.
Maybe the studio thought too many people would be turned away by a movie about race, which makes me wonder why they made the movie in the first place.Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington play Chris and Lisa Mattson, an interracial couple who have just into a nice house in Lakeview Terrace, a beautiful Californian suburb.
But half way through the movie his kids are sent away so Abel can do things completely out of character, like hosting a bachelor party at three in the morning.I can't blame Samuel Jackson for creating such ludicrous character.
I went to see this movie tonight, first of all I like Samuel L Jackson, whenever you go to watch his films you expect to see a good guy but this movie will give you a different feeling on this new character.
I'm sure Neil LaBute is a talented director- I've enjoyed both Your Friends and Neighbors and the criminally underrated Nurse Betty (not seen In the Company of Men or Shape of Things, but heard great things about both, not so much the Wicker Man redux)- and Lakeview Terrace occasionally flashes some moments that reveal his understanding of the subject matter at hand.
Early on the story speaks its promise: a conservative LA cop- yes, conservative first and foremost as one notes the character's disdain for democrats or just liberalism in general- played by Sam Jackson sees a white guy (Patrick Wilson) and black woman (Kerry Washington) move in.
The tactic here in Lakeview Terrace is to take that symbol of fire burning down a city and transplant it into the burning down of racial bonding and peace and yada yada, and it's not really a metaphor/symbol/whatever that hits right away - but when it does, yikes is it an over-bearing claptrap made especially for the climax (I was almost pining for that also hackneyed Haggis formula of crashes in Crash).And, again, motivation and really well-defined characters end up sinking this after the promising first act; as soon as Abel's agitation turns to practically psychotic behavior, it's hard to actually connect with this past something out of a horror movie.
i was really impressed with the study of interracial dating and relationships in this one,, Samuel Jackson plays a cop who is widowed raising 2 kids on his own,, he has strong beliefs about how to raise his children, so when he sees the new couple move in next door , a white guy and a light skinned black woman he snaps,, but not all at once .
Jackson) that feels uncomfortable with the interregional relationship of the newcomers and transforms their lives in Hell on Earth.The predictable and flawed "Lakeview Terrace" is not totally bad, but is the type of movie that will be broadcasted on TV in a Saturday night tin a couple of years.
LAKEVIEW TERRACE sidesteps cliché throughout – arguably until the climax, anyway – and delivers plenty of suspense and thrills in its story of a racist-with-a-twist – this time it's Jackson who's the racist, a guy who hates whites.Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington are somewhat bland modern actors, but the quality of the scripts drives them to give fairly good turns here.
Jackson gives a terrific performance as a man about to go over the edge, as you know he is tight on security, with things like the flood lights, and the way he always talks down to the kids and neighbors and the villains in a couple street scenes.
LAKEVIEW TERRACE tell the story of an interracial couple moving into their first newly bought home, while next door there lives Abel Turner (Samuel L.
Jackson) who immediately takes a dislike of seeing a white man (Patrick Wilson) and black woman (Kerry Washington) living together.The film has a great subject matter that tackles black on white racism without getting to preachy or philosophical, and yes black on white racism does occur in our everyday lives like it or not, Samuel L.
Jackson plays his character Abel Turner very straight foreword as you can immediately tell a lot of things about him, the man has principles, he raises his the way best he knows how, and he takes his job extremely seriously, and dislikes the idea of a black woman and white man living together for some reason, the performances by Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington as the married couple moving into their dream home are also very good, frankly I think this film hits more of a mark with the subject matter than a lot of other films, it gives it to you as it is without philosophical BS, and this is the second film I've seen from director Neil Labute, and he certainly redeems himself considering the WICKER MAN remake, Obviously flawed by its ending, the subject matter gets you thinking and the film owes its success to its main cast and solid direction..
A young interracial couple, Chris (Patrick Wilson) and Lisa Mattson (Kerry Washington), move into their first home next door to Abel.
He's also a racist with personal demons who has his reasons for disliking white people, and his wrath reaches its pinnacle when a young interracial couple (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) move in as his new neighbors at Lakeview Terrace.
An excellent performance by Samuel Jackson very convincing, the man deserves an Oscar for this one, an interesting plot and an unexpected ending - this movie will keep you on the edge of your seat - the underlying racial tones speak to that part of both Black and White people's consciousness that most of us are uncomfortable dealing with - Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington also played their parts well, both are first class actors and deserve kudos for a job well done!
The theme that is presented throughout the movie is a theme of racial intolerance.The movie begins with Chris and Lisa Mattson moving into the Lakeview Terrace neighborhood as Abel's children, Marcus and Celia are on their way to school.
The darkness of the low-key lighting goes with the theme of racial intolerance in that if one acts out like Turner, it can make you a pretty dark person.In conclusion, the theme of racial intolerance is ironic in this movie because a person would feel that having a police officer as a neighbor would be a good thing.
In the past,we have seen some movies about tense relationships between neighbours and now,the film Lakeview Terrace,adds some racism to that formula,giving an additional dimension to what could have been a simple thriller.This is an entertaining movie but there some some serious fails on it.Let's see the positive points first.I am not a fan of director Neil LaBute (specially,after he made the stupid and totally unnecessary remake of The Wicker Man),but I always appreciate the attention he puts to character development,and,on this movie,the main character Abel Turner has a strong and very well done development,showing very precisely his intentions and motivations.But,Samuel L.
Jackson's brilliant performance also helps to the character because he is completely credible.It's truly incredible the range Jackson has as an actor because as the racist cop from this movie,the villain from Jumper or the intense artist from Black Snake Moan (just to mention three examples),Jackson completely becomes on them,giving them identity and own life.Also,on bad movies like The Man or the previously mentioned Jumper,he results one of the few positive elements.But,as I mentioned,this film has some important fails.The performances from Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington are completely generic and anonymous.These two actors can never become on their character and Jackson devours them with his great presence.But the main fail from this movie is that it fails on its social commentary.The racist subjects are used by some movies to challenge the spectators and making them to discuss about that subjects.I think films like Crash,To Kill a Mockingbird or the brilliant Rabbit Proof Fence achieved that difficult point.But,on this movie,it seems an excuse to complicate a simple story and to disguise that the villain,in spite of his racism and paranoia has the reason of many things.The result was that it was impossible for me to be on side of any character because I felt antipathy to the "heroes" because they are just bad neighbours.I mean,shedding cigarette butts on your neighbour's house?
But things do when Chris(Patrick Wilson) and Lisa Matteson(Kerry Washington, best known from Ray and I Think I Love My Wife) an interracial couple that moves next door.
The trailer tells you this will be a suspense thriller about a next-door cop intruding and harassing his neighbors, and generally being creepy.I knew this wasn't what I signed up for fifteen minutes in, when I realized that Samuel Jackson's character wasn't being portrayed as a villain, but more as a black man (with a bit of bad luck) who simply hates white people.
The death of his wife leaves him with two kids to support and a demanding city cop job to contend with.His frustrations boil over when a bi-racial couple - Chris (Wilson) and Lisa (Washington) move into the upmarket Lakeview Circle neighborhood.Abel Turner is having none of it and his jealousy soon spills over into psychotic acts of violence to drive them out of Lakeview.But Chris and Lisa Mattson are there to stay, despite the increasingly disturbing events that are unfolding...Lakeview Terrace trumped the Box-Office and with good reason - it hits the mark as a high-octane action thriller..
Jackson does a great job and will always be an outstanding actor,but he still wasn't enough to make this movie decent,the only scenes that I really liked were when we got to see his character working for the LAPD,which we saw very little of.Kerry Washington did the best she could with the character she was given,sadly it was a boring character that lacked any interesting personality traits,but I found Patrick Wilson's character very annoying,he wouldn't stick up to Jackson's character and couldn't defend his own household and I found the character unlikeable.Lakeview Terrace is a really slow and mediocre movie that I think people would be better off avoiding.A racist veteran LAPD cop starts a violent campaign of intimidation and harassment against his new neighbours because of their interracial relationship.
Jackson plays Abel Turner, an LAPD officer who goes off the deep end when an inter-racial (he's white; she's black) couple move in next door.
For his own personal reasons,he is WAY less than pleased when the new neighbors turn out to be college-educated interracial couple Chris and Lisa Mattson(Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington).
Needless to say,his displeasure will not stay below the surface for very long,hence your story's growing conflict.A fantastic plot-twisting where the oft-documented racist Los Angeles Police force is instead represented by a strong,mostly straight-laced black man,the scrutinized,potential hapless victims are either literally white(as the man in the couple)or white-cultured(both of them really)and the couple itself is not the norm(it seems like usually in these mixed raced relationships in TV and movies,the man would be black and the woman white,though this pairing I would guess isn't entirely unusual)is set up almost flawlessly through the first two-thirds,only to resolve itself a whole lot less so in the third act.
His passive-aggressive dislike of his next door neighbors--Chris Mattson (Patrick Wilson) and Lisa Mattson (Kerry Washington)--blossoms into full-fledged overt hostility as the story unfolds.Officer Turner, and his fellow cops, routinely violate the rules, making the film a statement about police abuse of power, as well.About halfway through, however, the storyline includes some elements that feel false (i.e. untrue to the nature of the characters).
Jackson as an obsessive cop named Abel Turner and Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington as Chris and Lisa, a newly couple moving into the neighborhood.This film is interesting for the portrayal of the characters, although it is a typical predictable cop drama, which has been seen several times.
In comes mixed newly wed couple Chris and Lisa Mattson (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington respectively), who irks our cop next door with their very open public display of affection in the pool at their backyard, in full view of Abel's children, and so the line has been crossed.There are enough rogue cop movies out there such as Unlawful Entry with the cops threatening the peaceful lives of ordinary citizens in the neighbourhood, and this one is but one of the rather mediocre entries to the genre, with the story unravelling itself in very straightforward terms without any build up to the final act.
Interracial couple Chris and Lisa Mattson (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) are new home-owners who move next door to Abel Turner, an African-American police officer with the LAPD and father of two who has a short temper.
Addressing themes of racism, regret and many forms of domestic quibble, the movie is one that goes about delivering its themes with volume, but not exactly with conviction or memorable panache; it's a myriad of ideas, all intelligent and thought provoking that will no doubt engage viewers on their own merits, but moving far too slowly and jumping off into the absurd for its final act, Lakeview Terrace certainly feels like a nightmare experience, but its not one that will haunt you as much it should.Telling the story of newlywed couple and first-time homeowners Chris and Lisa Mattson as they move into their new neighbourhood under the watchful eye of stern police officer Abel Turner, writers David Loughery and Howard Korder tell the rather underused Neighbour from Hell story.
Co-stars Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington don't necessarily have to do quite as much as Jackson, playing the sheepish everyday newlyweds from beginning to end, but they hold their own enough to keep the movie afloat.Despite some technical flaws in structure and implementation however, one of the most striking aspects of Lakeview Terrace is its aesthetic design which goes a long way to furthering the script's themes of racial paranoia and prejudice.
On the other side of the Cul De Sac is Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington who play an inter-racial couple(Chris and Lisa Mattson) starting their married life together...Wilson in his own way plays a pathetic character of his own...living with a woman he loves...then somehow he begins to openly contest and challenge his relationship with his new wife...all at the mental massaging of good neighbor Abel...who cannot stand the notion of anyone having a better life than his.
Enjoy Lakeview Terrace for the acting of Samuel L Jackson and Patrick Wilson...they both create some great scenes of unrest and discomfort...as they both play pathetic characters in two entirely different areas in their lives.Don't see it if you are expecting to see an Oscar nominated flick as it is nothing more than a TV movie with jacked up language and content in order for it to be shown in a movie house release.
So when inter-racial couple Chris (Patrick Wilson) and Lisa Mattson (Kerry Washington) move in next door, Abel tips over the edge and becomes the bad cop neighbour from hell.Director Neil LaBute (In the Company of Men) and his lead actors ensure the story doesn't become insulting to racial matters, both of relationships and of colour hatred, but after a great first two thirds of build up it, it then lacks the courage of its convictions, where taking the easy way out leaves a frustrating taste in the mouth.It's still a viable and very watchable thriller, it just isn't bold enough come the finale.