Fans of Samuel L. Jackson, rejoice! He has a new film out, and it's indeed quite interesting — not great, but interesting. "Lakeview Terrace" is an average thriller with a few interesting ideas. Although it is an improvement over director Neil LaBute's last work, "The Wicker Man" (2006), it remains a mediocre film.
"Lakeview Terrace" stars Jackson as Abel Turner, a conservative single father of two raising his kids in the suburbs of southern California. Sounds like fertile ground for a suspense thriller, right? Well, Turner's vision of a morally upright community turns south as Chris and Lisa Mattson (played by Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington, respectively) move in next door. The newly wed interracial couple infuriates Turner, and as tensions and suspicions flare, so do the dramatic conflicts.
LaBute's film introduces a few interesting themes — racial identity, conservative versus liberal values and the increasing paranoia of suburban life — but unfortunately, none of them are fully explored. Instead, they are pushed aside and overshadowed by the escalating conflict and the slipping sanity of the involved parties.
Although it starts as an intriguing drama with moral grey areas, the film devolves into a typical black and white thriller with a good guy and a bad guy, one of whom is bound to win the day. There is a sense that certain priorities were dropped in order to emphasize the action, and this lack of clear focus detracts from the film's most interesting aspect: tonal duality.
As a result of LaBute's unsure directorial hand, the scenes waver between drama and thriller, and depending on the mood of the viewer, can end up being suspenseful and effective or ludicrous and comic. When the theater is full of people expecting an entertainingly bad movie, can one really expect "Lakeview Terrace" to be taken seriously? Laughter is contagious, and as the unintended comedy begins to take center stage, the mood lightens considerably. Suddenly everything seems to be played for laughs.
This situation is worsened by the fact that the cinematography often relies on unconventional quick cuts and wide shots, occurring infrequently and unexpectedly. One shot focuses on a hill of pavement with nothing visible except a grey horizon until suddenly, a wide line of treetops and shrubbery starts rising up, seemingly hovering in midair for a few seconds until the landscaping trucks which contain them come into view.
In addition, the climax features exaggerated reaction shots of the characters, which, when shown in quick succession and against the backdrop of spreading wildfire, can ultimately elicit more laughs than chills. The film's dialogue, though, can actually be fairly entertaining when it is delivered with a straight face.
With the exception of Jackson, performances across the board are average. Washington and Wilson do little with their roles; though their acting could not be considered bad, their characters just aren't sympathetic enough for the audience to invest emotionally in them. Intriguing characters and relationships are introduced and then thrown away as the film shifts toward thriller territory. Turner's children, his police buddies and Lisa's father all show promise, but are ultimately unimportant.
The single standout in the cast is Jackson. He successfully captures the increasingly off-kilter and creepy Turner. Jackson possesses a natural charisma on-screen and wields it with skill, going from friendly to full-on insane with surprising subtlety.
However, as a result of his cult status as an actor and the similarity of many of his characters, Jackson cannot successfully dissociate himself with his larger-than-life image, which furthers the levity of situations otherwise intended to be serious. For example, though a father stripping down to his boxers in front of his daughter to make a point should be disturbing, the image of Jackson taking his pants off and dancing around doesn't exactly come across the same way.
"Lakeview Terrace" isn't a bad movie. Though it is not particularly potent in its half-forgotten messages or thriller conventions, it doesn't really do anything wrong. And some may even find it all the more enjoyable for its flaws, considering the cult status of the terrible thriller-turned-YouTube-comedy-classic "The Wicker Man."
