SummaryIn The Good Neighbor, a pair of mischievous high school kids (Keir Gilchrist and Logan Miller) create the illusion of a haunting on an unsuspecting neighbor (James Caan). While keeping his every reaction under surveillance, they see much more than they bargained for.
SummaryIn The Good Neighbor, a pair of mischievous high school kids (Keir Gilchrist and Logan Miller) create the illusion of a haunting on an unsuspecting neighbor (James Caan). While keeping his every reaction under surveillance, they see much more than they bargained for.
Landing a lead like Caan underscores the fact that there was the germ of a twisty, tough thriller here. It’s too bad the script and uncertain direction let The Good Neighbor down.
Ethan (Logan Miller) and Sean (Keir Gilchrist) are best friends, friends who know that Ethan's neighbor, Harold Grainey (James Caan) is not a very nice person. One night the boys are up late playing video games, when they come up with the idea to screw with the evil old man across the street. They decide to trick the old man into believing that his house is haunted, but they have no idea the kind of person they are messing with. The Good Neighbor has so much going for it, especially when it comes to suspense. A lot of films claim that they will keep you on the edge of your seat, but this one really will. I'm not a jumpy, edge of your seat type person, but this film got me. Another thing I really enjoyed was not only the dynamic between the veteran actor and the two newcomers, but how different their characters were. First, we're following this miserable angry old man, then we're seeing kids in the prime of their life, screwing around, and having fun. It's the kind of thing a lot of people don't recognize, but it is extremely hard to pull off a two parted story, when the sides are so drastically different. James Caan was of course terrific as he is always is, but so was Keir Gilchrist. This kid continues to give these tremendous performances in these little known independent films. I think he is going to be a huge star at some point, but at the age of 27, he's really beyond films like this. The Good Neighbor is a rare treat, because it has two stars that are arguably too good to be in such a small independent movie. Paired with a terrific story, thrilling action, and a unique dynamic. This is one of those rate film we're proud to label as a must see movie!
The reoccurring twists throughout the movie was interesting and I couldn't of imagined such depressing ending as I completely thought the "neighbor" had enslaved children or smth. Fascinating how such coincidence could occur. The smile for fame on the boy's face at the end was subtle yet creepy. Everything was pulled together at the end and had intensified the result by that much.
Farahani is quite liberal crosscutting between the story’s varying point of views.... This manic style offers the film all of the necessary intrigue to make its story captivating, but it’s at the expense of being incredibly manipulative to its audience.
The script has some familiar, vaguely disapproving things to say about latchkey kids (both the teen leads are under-supervised by workaholic or absent parents), depersonalizing technology, and the pursuit of fatuous social-media fame. But there’s not much real suspense stirred here by a premise that straddles recent found-footage thrillers and “Rear Window.”
Any movie that leeches the perverse fun out of illicit voyeurism, then tosses in a grim gotcha of an ending to make everyone feel worse, when the kids’ actions are distasteful enough, is worth avoiding.
Do all the secrets worth unfolding!!!
This is really refreshing. Something rare and unpredictable film in a thriller. Nice characters and the setting where all the story takes place. This is about two teenagers secretly trying to video document one of their neighbours after judging his character through several events of his life. So they place hidden cams in his house, expecting something twist to happen. As the story goes on, they face various troubles and what result they get in the end was a shocker.
I think nicely written film. Not much fuzz about the characters or any events. Though there were some scene that puts the views on the edge of their seats. Overall a nicely made film, either quality or the quantity, totally acceptable. The actors too were good. The kids and then the Jame Caan. The suspense was the backbone of the film. It succeeded on that, but don't anticipate anything bigger. It is a simple, small thriller that's surely worth a try.
7/10
I found the movie suspenseful in spots and I wanted to see what the payoff would be. In that regard, the movie worked for me. Of course, having James Caan as one of the leads helped but Caan was not asked to do very much but react to the bumps in the night. Still, as a big fan of "Rear Window", I enjoyed the film.
The concept was interesting, but the result was a bit boring. It just becomes two annoying teenagers watching an old man sleeping (James Caan). Who is by far is the best part of the movie. Another found footage movie that could of been good but becomes annoying and boring.