Think: "Crash" by way of "Paparazzi" and you've the gist of the type of exploitative narrative "Lakeview Terrace" is dabbling with.
Lakeview Terrace (2008)
Directors: Neil LaBute
Producers: Will Smith
Writers: David Loughrey and Howard Korder
Features: Rated PG-13 for intense thematic material, violence, sexuality, language and some drug references. Running Time: 110 Min. In theaters: September 19, 2008
Characters:
Samuel L. Jackson ... Abel Turner
Patrick Wilson ... Chris Mattson
Kerry Washington ... Lisa Mattson
Ron Glass ... Harold Perreau
Justin Chambers ... Donnie Eaton
Jay Hernandez ... Javier Villareal
Regine Nehy ... Celia Turner
Jaishon Fisher ... Marcus Turner
Robert Pine ... Captain Wentworth
Keith Loneker ... Clarence Darlington
Caleeb Pinkett ... Damon Richards
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Review:
Lakeview Terrace
Boy, Hollywood sure does love a good exploitation film, particularly one that can play as a ‘serious think picture.’ Last year, we saw Jodie Foster painfully run her name through the mud with the brash, offensive picture, "The Brave One" and now Sam Jackson has set out to throw race relations out the door with his equally brash and offensive "Lakeview Terrace."
The film, which is directed by "Wicker Man"-alum Neil LaBute, starts out swiftly with our main antagonist, Jackson’s Abel Turner. Turner looks and acts like a normal, caring father, but once an interracially mixed couple moves next door, he flips a gasket, harassing them every chance he gets until things get ugly. The twist is that our protagonists don’t know what to do about the harassment because Abel is a decorated officer of the law.
The film plays out like your usual contrived cat-and-mouse thriller with mounting tension piling on our heroes as the increasingly uneven villain inches closer to unraveling, and potentially hurting our heroes. It’s certainly not high art, but it has its place.
The problem lies with the immensely inept and brutally offensive script from David Loughery and Howard Korder. The film quickly sinks into some sort of half-cocked race relations picture. Think: "Crash" by way of "Paparazzi" and you've the gist of the type of exploitative narrative "Lakeview Terrace" is dabbling with. Never once do the screenwriters stop to cleverly think out their racial allegory. Instead, they plow full speed ahead with their terrifically offensive characters. Abel Turner quickly sinks from a depressed father morning his wife to an obsessed racist with designs of murdering his interracial neighbors. The leap is just too monumental to make sense and the end results reach a grey area audiences and unlikely to morally recover from.
It doesn’t help that the film pivots on Neil Labute’s terrible direction. This guy once made a few good pictures ("In the Company of Men"), but recently, he’s come unhinged himself, extracting his once fine career into a series of wonky human exploits. The guy can’t seem to mount tension without driving exploitative comedy into the ranks. In fact, in many ways, "Lakeview Terrace" would have been a much more poignant tale had it played out like an over-the-top black comedy, complete with an uncomfortable Matthew Broderick leading the show.
Instead, we’re given two straight-laced performances from Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington, who do their best with their underdeveloped heroes. It’s never clear what exactly Wilson’s Chris does. We know he works at some sort of "Go Green"-type grocery store, but we never see him at work. Washington’s Lisa is given nothing to do except hide an unwanted pregnancy from her husband—an annoying plot conceit that causes instability between the two characters. It seems like Loughrey and Korder didn’t contemplate what these characters were like before they moved to Lakeview. Who were they? Did they discuss pregnancy beforehand? Thier relationship? Race issues? Anything? These characters seem as though they didn’t exist before the movie began, and in many ways, I doubt they exist afterwards.
At least Sam Jackson seems to know exactly what kind of picture he’s in and he revels in the fiendishly campy role. Jackson never skips a tension-building beat, but his character does bring an unfortunate comic-edge to this otherwise serious picture. Some are sure to be disappointed in this take while others are sure to indulge. If nothing else, this is a juicy, exploitative portrayal on a man on the edge.
After viewing the film, I couldn’t stop thinking about the film’s final message. Was it a message of racial equality or was it just an exploitative picture poking fun at the skirted nature of race relations in modern middle class society? Then I saw another metaphor hiding within the subtext of "Lakeview Terrace." Perhaps "Lakeview Terrace" is a film about politics that uses the metaphor of race relations paired with the plot of a pot-boiling escapist thriller as its construct.
Maybe the film is about a scorned but tough, rugged religious Republican who stands up for what he believes in because of what he’s seen and done. He defends his life, his family, his home and his community through oppressive preemptive action. His flaw is that he makes illogical snap judgments that hurt others. He uses fear tactics to prove his point and never backs down from a fight, even when defeat is clear or he's caught in a lie. He doesn’t necessarily employ these techniques in his own home either, but he brutally enforces them elsewhere. He is a man deconstructed by his own double standards and treachery.
Perhaps our protagonist, Chris, is a liberal Democrat who seeks to use diplomacy at all costs. When he’s pressured by his aggressive neighbor, he heads over to his house to discuss the problem. His flaw is that he’s too weak, hiding his smoking habit from his wife and pretending to be environmentally conscious. He’s too timid and too weak to combat such a strong adversary. Maybe the conclusion of the film suggests that men like Chris need to stand up and defend themselves, but know when and how to back down. Chris needs to listen and be attentive and voice his feelings, but he needs to show some authority. If not, both characters will destroy one another.
Of course, this might all be one giant leap. "Lakeview Terrace" is probably just another formulaic, run-of-the-mill exploitation picture designed to appeal to the Lifetime-movie-of-the-week crowd. It certainly plays out like one with its terribly weak characters, campy nature and over-the-top story, but maybe I’m wrong. Maybe "Lakeview Terrace" is a work of pure, insane genius. Who knows when it comes from the mind of the man who brought us "The Wicker Man." Who knows, indeed...
Film Report Card:
Entertainment Value: B+
Film Value: D
Final Grade:
C-
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----R. L. Shaffer