REVIEW: Lakeview Terrace (B)

Lakeview Terrace is one of those films that brings together a “coalition of strange bedfellows”: Will Smith as producer, Neil LaBute as director, and Samuel L. Jackson (Jumper) and Patrick Wilson (Little Children) as lead actors; none of them have previously worked on a project together. Using deductive reasoning, then, we can assume that the common thread for their involvement was an attraction to the story by David Loughery, who’s been out of work since 1995 and is probably best known (if he’s known at all) for his screenplays for Star Trek V, Passenger 57, and Money Train. Or maybe Lakeview Terrace was just another offer Sam Jackson couldn't turn down.

Anyway, you have to hand it to Neil LaBute, Hollywood’s favorite misanthropic ex-playwright. After garnering critical acclaim and an armful of awards for his feature film debut, 1997’s In the Company of Men, the former Mormon has seen his successive films disappoint both critics and audiences, no more so evidently than with his disastrous remake of The Wicker Man two years ago. But he keeps on plugging away, and he makes no effort to tone down the “hard edge” that he’s developed over years of producing what most people would consider downright cruel material. LaBute is unbothered by such criticism: "I don't shy away from subjects that come to me - and once I decide to do a subject, I don't pull back - but I'm not consciously stirring the pot or ripping stories out of the headlines to create tension and thus shine the light on me."

Well considering I didn't even know he was behind Lakeview Terrace until I was at the theater, I would say he was successful in putting the issue of interracial marriage ahead of himself. However, the issue itself unfortunately gets lost in a snowballing build-up of standard thriller clichés, leaving us with a film that falls significantly short of its grand ambition. The story, which focuses on L.A.P.D. officer Abel Turner's (Jackson) dangerously increasing discomfort with the interracial newlyweds next door, Chris and Lisa Mattson (Wilson and Kerry Washington of The Last King of Scotland), becomes a messy episode that strays from its meaty central theme as it becomes distracted with unnecessary forays into topics like child abuse, family planning, police corruption, single parenthood, and, with as much symbolic subtlety as a slap to the face, even California's notorious wildfires.

This is a tragic mistake because the themes Lakeview Terrace begins to address are urgently relevant in contemporary (and especially future) America, and previous films about interracial couples have done precious little justice to the issue, if they've even been seen at all. Spike Lee ruffled too many feathers with Jungle Fever, for example, while both Wes Anderson and Susanne Bier virtually ignored the subject in The Royal Tenenbaums and Things We Lost in the Fire, respectively. As such, Lakeview Terrace deserves some credit for at least attempting to initiate a discussion, and that counts for quite a lot. Additionally, I appreciated that the characters were believably written and ably played, particularly by Jackson and Wilson. Their actions may have at times been exaggerated or convenient to the story arc, but for the most part they existed as a people you may know or at least acknowledge exist in real life.

Sam Jackson creates a new definition for the term "housewarming"...

While Lakeview Terrace's effort at an important story doesn't quite make up for its lack of creativity in telling it, I would still consider it worth viewing. There are far more movies that are just as mediocre or even worse, but you'll likely find yourself thinking about Lakeview Terrace in hindsight more so than your average commercial blockbuster. Ultimately it's like much of Neil Labute's work: despite its flaws, it's not a story that can easily be tossed aside.

Grade:
Writing - 7
Acting - 9
Production - 8
Emotional Impact - 9
Music - 4
Social Significance - 5

Total: 42/50= 84% = B