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Lakeview Terrace
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 29 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 60 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama | Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
David Loughery
Howard Korder
Directed by: Neil LaBute
Release Date:
Theatrical: September 19, 2008
DVD: January 27, 2009
Running Time: 110 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for intense thematic material, violence, sexuality, language and some drug references
Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Wilson, Kerry Washington, Eva La Rue, and Bitsie Tulloch
In Lakeview Terrace, a young couple has just moved into their California dream home when they become the target of their next-door neighbor, who disapproves of their interracial relationship. A stern, single father, this tightly wound LAPD officer has appointed himself the watchdog of the neighborhood. His nightly foot patrols and overly watchful eyes bring comfort to some, but he becomes increasingly harassing to the newlyweds. These persistent intrusions into their lives ultimately turn tragic when the couple decides to fight back. (Sony Pictures)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: In the Company of Men Nurse Betty Possession The Shape of Things The Wicker Man Your Friends & Neighbors
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
I find movies like this alive and provoking, and I'm exhilarated to have my thinking challenged at every step of the way.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Lakeview Terrace isn't literally about the riots, but it's still one of the toughest racial dramas to come out of Hollywood since the fires died down--much tougher, for instance, than Paul Haggis’s hand-wringing Oscar winner "Crash."
Read Full Review >Empire Kim Newman
As a thriller it's solid three-star tension. As a Samuel L. Jackson showcase it proves a man can only coast through so many motherfuckin' or milquetoastin' turns before having to display his full and overpowering talent.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
A conventional suspense thriller, but the details kick it up a notch.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Don R. Lewis
A pretty provocative film, that is until it implodes into standard formulaic Hollywood crap.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
Here's a vote of gratitude for Samuel L. Jackson, who has become a specialist in making mediocre movies far more entertaining than they should be.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
Lakeview Terrace holds your interest, though the bad faith on all sides makes it something of an endurance test.
Read Full Review >Variety Dennis Harvey
Delivers fairly tense and engrossing drama before succumbing to thriller convention.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker Anthony Lane
It's a shame, then, that the later stages of Lakeview Terrace should overheat and spill into silliness. The plot is compromised, not resolved, by the pulling of a gun.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Scott Foundas
Like a lot of better genre fare, Lakeview Terrace uses its predictable premise to mount a stealth attack on the audience's sensibilities.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
In pandering to Hollywood standards about how stories like this should unfold, LaBute has lost his edge.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
One wishes LaBute, a bleak satirist and, at his best, a crudely compelling dramatist, had taken the script and made it his own sort of twisted comedy instead of a routine thriller
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Lakeview Terrace's pretense at exploring racial intolerance has been exposed for what it really is: a B-movie copout.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Robert Abele
Jackson modulates Abel's internal turmoil and heated exchanges with enough shades of loneliness, steely generosity and wicked playfulness to give the actor firm control of our fascination and growing unease.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
Anyone who has ever had an annoying neighbor will see their worst nightmares fulfilled in the overheated but entertaining Lakeview Terrace.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
The main problem with this treatise on racial politics undercover as an exercise in suspense is that the director, Neil LaBute, didn't write the script.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
A passable piece of hackwork, with some adequately suspenseful passages and a few mild shocks near the end. But the psychological dimensions of the story are so risible, and its supposed insights into race and class so wrongheaded and ugly, that irritation trumps enjoyment.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
Grabs a fistful of hot-button story elements -- race, sex, politics -- and promptly mixes them into the thriller equivalent of tapioca.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak
When a film has to blare its racially and incendiary stance as obviously as Lakeview Terrace, you know it's trying too hard.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Ultimately, Lakeview Terrace isn't about race so much as it's about being a man, which has been LaBute's fallback theme from the start.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Sura Wood
The film, absent a sense of place and populated by repellent or weak characters, soon devolves into an increasingly foul litany of events.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
Starts out mixing social burlesques and melodrama and ends up one more failed thriller about men behaving badly - and stupidly.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
The movie might have something to say about black racism, but the conversations go nowhere, and the cliches of the genre take over.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
The whole thing is so listless and mechanical, watching it is a curiously dispiriting experience. You start hoping someone whips out a bear suit.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 2.6 (out of 10) based on 60 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Larry E gave it an8:
It's refreshing to see a "racially based" film that doesn't make the white guy look like the heavy. Samuel Jackson plays the bad guy a bit melodramatically, but it tends to make the picture a little more exciting. It held my attention and I enjoyed it thoroughly, AND, it's only about an hour and a half long which should be the rule for all movies!
Christopher P gave it a2:
Boring beyond belief until the final 16 minutes, when something actually happens (I checked the time on the DVD). It could have been a great film if it skipped all the shallow drama and went straight to the "thriller" film it's supposedly tagged as. I get the feeling this could be a solid 8 if the rest of the movie were as good as those final 16 minutes. But since everything before that is boring, awkward trash, it gets a 2. Frustrating.
Tony B. gave it a5:
Patrick Wilson, one of our more underrated young actors, gives Samuel Jackson a run for the money, and Kerry Washington is fine.
hal b gave it a6:
Ignore the "0" and "1" reviews. This film, although seriously flawed, is not THAT bad. It's a moderately entertaining suspense/thriller for much of it's running time -- but it's seriously compromised by just plain silly plot turns towards the climax... there are certain implausible actions, by one character in particular at the end, that really turn a potentially decent movie into a 'Oh, my, that's a shame' kind of film. Could have been so much better.
Eddie S gave it a0:
'Lakeview Terrace' is one of those movies that play with your nerves and your patience for no reason. A movie where people are not afraid to use gardening tools against eachother but on the other hand they find it very difficult to confront one another without using cliches, stereotypes, and innuendos. You will find yourselves asking "why did he just do/say that?" very often. Yep. It is one of these annoying/stupid movies where people act as if there are no consequences of what they do. It's the story of a (black) police officer that obviously envies his (white) neighbor for his education, money, job, and gorgeous (black) wife - and spends whatever little time he has off the job to make his neighbor's life miserable. The whole movie is nothing more than a contest of manliness that borders with stupidity as the movie progresses. ALL main characters are at war with eachother and every conversation ends up being a serious arguement. From the point where Jackson first meets his neighbor, it is evident that this is going to get nasty - and retarded. Jackson's character is a man that is not afraid to step into a social gathering, act as a smartass - insult everyone, and leave "knowing" he just achieved something grandiose! My advice: Stay clear of this movie.
Jon gave it a0:
Could have been the worst movie ever made. there is no plot, no nothing. terrible characters, and you don't understand why Samuel L jackson is doing anything that he's doing.
Jay H. gave it a6:
Flawed but it is suspenseful. Well produced, fine performances. It's a bit predictable but I was never bored at least. Good score.
