Drums up the odd moment of effective mild suspense before succumbing to standard genre shenanigans
Comment
10/06/08
Lakeview Terrace (2008)
47
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:150
Fresh:70
Rotten:80
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: This thriller about a menacing cop wreaking havoc on his neighbors is tense enough but threatens absurdity when it enters into excessive potboiler territory.
Australian Theatrical Release:
Jan 29, 2009 Wide
US Box Office: $39,263,506
Synopsis: A quick perusal of any of LAKEVIEW TERRACE's promotional materials--its nervy trailer, its foreboding (and painterly) dawn-hued poster featuring Samuel L. Jackson looking less-than-neighborly in... [More]
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Wilson, Kerry Washington, Jay Hernandez
Director: Neil LaBute
Reviews for Lakeview Terrace
Top CriticAre we really supposed to stomach a thriller in which the root of all evil is intelligent black men in power who can't stomach, to the point of going full-on psychotic, the sight of a white man married to a black woman?
09/14/08
A molasses-paced flick which rings false from beginning to end, from its patently absurd premise clear through to its unintentionally funny resolution.
09/21/08
...I don't know how much the LAPD pays it's officers, but I don't think it's enough to by a beautiful house in the hills.
09/26/08
I find movies like this alive and provoking, and I'm exhilarated to have my thinking challenged at every step of the way.
09/19/08
Top CriticAlready an important and controversial American playwright, Neil LaBute is looking to make the same individual mark as a director in films. His most recent effort is an incisive and poignant meditation on race, class and gender relations in America.
09/22/08
It’s important to clearly state that Jackson and LaBute’s cynical routines in Lakeview Terrace offend human decency, but I’m brushing their dirt off my shoulder.
09/17/08
Granted, this is hardly Wicker Man 2: NOT THE BEES!, but LaBute should be counted on for a movie with more teeth than what Lakeview Terrace is prepared to offer
09/18/08
Yet despite the crudeness that finally overtakes Lakeview Terrace, it may be a more accurate representation of racial attitudes in Los Angeles than many inhabitants would care to admit.
12/05/08
Strong performances matched with a strong script. Jackson is outstanding
09/23/08
Simmering acceleration from the grey area of implication to the black and white reality of acute humiliation.
09/15/08
Your annoying neighbor stories don't hold a candle to this tale of suspense in 'Lakeview Terrace,' a thriller from Neil LaBute.
09/27/08
Well acted and tautly directed, it's a movie whose juice is its realism, the easily recognizable situation, the paranoia that any homeowner can identify with.
09/17/08
Click to read the article
10/18/08
It’s uncomfortable viewing.
12/05/08
Watching this film is like stretching a spring and then letting it go again… and again… gripping and utterly absorbing.
12/05/08
Lacking even a Changing Lanes level of insight into America’s racial partition, this old-school, domestic-invasion thriller still has Samuel L Jackson’s twisted enforcer to push the right buttons.
12/05/08
Considered purely as a formal exercise, Lakeview Terrace is a passable piece of hackwork, with some adequately suspenseful passages.
09/19/08
Top CriticIf an actor this talented is going to slum it in hokey, over-the-top thrillers, I'd prefer he direct his anger at those mother-effing snakes on that mother-effing plane.
09/16/08
By confronting racial issues of many varieties head-on and without flinching, it becomes an explosive work of social commentary
09/16/08
Latest News for Lakeview Terrace
January 17, 2009:
Worst case scenario moviemaking, with interracial mating as the cinematic incendiary device of choice, along with Jackson's honed terror tactics that can make you shrivel with the slightest disapproving snarl. 
More...
January 13, 2009:
Interracial mating as the cinematic incendiary device of choice, and it's not white racists that are made to seethe about cross-racial romance, but oddly enough, black folks. Reality check, please.
More...
December 05, 2008:
UK Critics Consensus: Writers Warm to Madagascar 2; UK Critics Liked Lakeview Terrace
With thirteen new releases in the UK cinemas this weekend, let Rotten Tomatoes help you sort the tinsel from the turkeys. We have animals on the loose in Madagascar: Escape 2... More...
October 20, 2008:
Sam Jackson Talks Lakeview Terrace: Taking The Tough Questions
More...
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