Unless you live on some private island or an estate with thousands of surrounding acres, you likely have one or more neighbors in your life. And like everyone else, you also know that they come in three forms: Those you simply don't know and couldn't pick out of a police line-up; others who are great friends and make living in your neighborhood more fulfilling; and the rest who range from simple irritants to mortal enemies who became the bane of one's existence.
Aside from moving, there's little to do about those in the latter class. Sure, there are legal recourses, although they often end up making things worse, and one can always call the police if things truly get hairy. That is, unless that troublesome next-door neighbor turns out to be a cop.
And if you just so happen to be a mixed-race couple and the policeman across the driveway has a deep-rooted problem with that, the chances of getting together and singing "Ebony and Ivory" don't seem that likely. That sadly also holds true for viewers expecting a "fun" and suspenseful thrill ride or any sort of novelty from "Lakeview Terrace."
While it might have been better had it existed in a cinematic vacuum or among those with no long term memory of predecessors, the fact that it bears more than a striking resemblance to various "bad cop" thrillers from the past -- most notably 1992's "Unlawful Entry" -- means it naturally feels derivative.
Throw in the fact that it unravels in parallel to the main antagonist doing the same, and the result is a pic that might start out okay, but grows tiresome and predictable just as quickly and surely as the neighbor's grass will grow next door during a rainy, hot summer.
Speaking of hot, the filmmakers -- director Neil LaBute and screenwriters David Loughery and Howard Korder -- want to make sure that we get the growing tension and flammable kindling between the pivotal residents' lives, so they throw in a subplot that features slowly approaching brush wildfires that, natch, are right on the doorsteps as everything at the conclusion comes to a boil, ignites, and explodes from the volatile antagonism. I don't mind symbolism, but it's so blatant and over-the-top here that the effect is ruined.
That also holds true for the antagonist played by Samuel L. Jackson. While the veteran actor has made a living playing intense and often intimidating characters (that have become something nearing caricature, what with the bug-eyed, piercing stare accompanying the "I'm gonna blow" increase in vocal volume and often profanity), his "good cop, bad cop" character (and particularly the way in which it's been written) is the thing that ultimately causes the offering to collapse into a heap of implausibility.
Jackson has no problem following the trajectory from concerned single dad (challenged the most by his standard-issue, irritated teen daughter) to increasingly unstable psycho who thinks he's above the law because he is just that.
While the filmmakers eventually get around to revealing the deep-seated motivation behind his actions and substantial change in 'tude, it never seems credible enough for one to believe any of this would occur (compared to Ray Liotta in that '92 thriller where his cop character seemed a bit unhinged from the get-go). Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington, meanwhile, play the rote couple besieged by his actions, and follow the playbook for such characters to a T.
The biggest issue, however, is that the film offers few if any real surprises. I could have accepted the reworking of the genre had something different or interesting been done with it, but that's not the case. And it's disappointing that LaBute's early career edginess has been followed by this and last year's remake of "The Wicker Man."
Fortunately, and unlike a bad neighbor, one can easily move away from this busy but far too familiar member of the cinematic community not long after being introduced to it. "Lakeview Terrace" rates as a 4 out of 10.
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