Samuel L. Jackson has made quite a career playing self-righteous, vengeful, morally ambiguous seekers of "justice. It started with Pulp Fiction when he played the cool bible quoting hit man, Jules Winnfield. It continued with his role in Changing Lanes, playing a game of one-upmanship with Ben Affleck. And it reaches what I think is Jackson's creative peak in Lakeview Terrace, where he plays the ultimate neighbor from Hell, or in this case Oakland.
Jackson plays Abel Turner, a single father raising his two kids in an upper class community in Los Angeles. Abel is a police officer. The type we've come to expect from movies portraying LA cops in recent years: He's overly aggressive, borderline racist, and basically has little faith in the inherent goodness of mankind. Who'da thought having guns pointed at you everyday would make you bitter? Go figure.
Abel's life takes a turn when interracial couple, Chris(Patrick Wilson) and Lisa(Kerry Washington) move in next door. There's a hilarious scene early on where Abel mistakes Chris as the moving guy, in an obvious twist on the usual setup where the minority is confused for being one of the help staff. Abel, upon realizing the situation, instantly takes a disturbing interest in the pair. He seems to take a peculiar dislike to Chris. Chris is a graduate from Berkley who works as some sort of executive at an eco-friendly supermarket. Lisa...stare at fashion designs all day. Somethin'. I dunno.
Abel begins to intrude into the personal lives of the couple innocently enough at first, but his actions become increasingly harassing and cruel. His every move is masterful with the obvious intent of breaking the pair apart. From overly bright security lights shining through their bedroom window, to outing Chris's smoking habit to Lisa, Abel plays the couple like a drum. For the early going it's a one-sided affair, but eventually Chris starts to get payback, which only amplifies the situation to a ridiculous degree.
For what's it's worth, Lakeview Terrace gets mostly everything right. Samuel L's performance as Abel is truly remarkable. I can't say enough about it. In some ways he reminds me a lot of Anton Chirurrh in No Country for Old Men. Every scene he's in you feel as if something awful is about to happen. Even in the most innocent of settings it seems as if he's always thinking ahead to the next evil deed he's about to commit. Jackson hits the nail on the head. He never makes Abel too much of a mustache-twirling villain. Abel is a world-class jerk with obvious race issues that he simply can't get beyond, but the script also allows us to see his role as a father and just how important is to him. I think they could've done a little more with the Lisa character, rather than setting her up as the damsel in distress in this little triangle. Lisa shows flashes of backbone early in the film, but I think eventually they sold out a bit and dolled her up to be the prize.
Patrick Wilson does an admirable job playing Chris, who's just a guy who wants to live a normal, peaceful life. He just wants to get past whatever the issues are with Abel and move on. There's a great scene where Chris, after Abel absolutely ruins a housewarming party, tells Abel that whatever their differences are he just wants to get past it and be neighbors. Abel immediately challenges his manhood by asking "What's your agenda?" The film plays with these issues of masculinity quite well throughout.
Not so much on the issue of race, however. Every single person in this film seems to have an opinion on the subject, and it comes up at the oddest times. I get that the writer wanted to make a point on the issue, but for the life of me I don't know what that is and I really don't care. What I do want is for the issue to be handled with just a hint of subtlety. There's just a terrible scene where Abel and Chris meet in a local bar, and Abel goes through a very labored five minutes explaining why he hates Chris so much. It really should've been cut out, as I feel the Abel character needs no explanation for hating Chris. It's implied quite effectively throughout the film, so I don't need it spelled out for me, thank you. Another problem I had is that it's pretty clear they weren't sure how to wrap this puppy up. The last thirty minutes or so crawls to it's inevitable conclusion, and frankly the endgame is a bit too out there for my tastes. I don't think it does justice to the way any of the characters were portrayed earlier in the film.
I gotta say something really briefly about the choice of Neil Labute as director for this. Neil Labute has written some of the best films featuring some truly heinous characters: In the Company of Men and The Shape of Things spring instantly to mind. While he didn't write this film, his influence is all over this, and Abel fits perfectly into his little pantheon of wretched creations you can't wait to see get their comeuppance.
I'd still recommend seeing this, though, because it does mostly get it right. They do a good job of ramping up the tension throughout. The performances are all strong, particularly Jackson's. You'll be hard pressed to find a better portrayal in theaters right now.
7/10
