Reviews > Lakeview Terrace

Notable similarity to an actual case that was publicized quite a bit in Los Angeles where a police officer was accused of harassing an interacial married couple that were his neighbors. Lakeview delivers the darkside of humanity in this thriller. Samual L Jackson plays Abel Turner the neighbor from hell that no one wants to have living next to them. Jackson is a well respected veteran on the Los Angeles police force who gets some unwanted neighbors moving in to the neighborhood. Chris & Lisa are an interracial married couple who move right next door to the racially charged cop. Jackson at first greets the couple with a sick sense of humor pretending to car jack them as they pull up. But it soon takes a sick turn as Jackson’s discontent for the couple builds he becomes quite a nuisance flashing his security lights into their bedroom window every night & breaking their air conditioning system.
The final straw hits when Abel breaks into the garage & slashes the car tires. Very similiar to the film Unlawful Entry, where is this couple to turn to as they go to the police none of the officers believe Abel would conduct this type of behavior.Tensions flare between the two households throughout the whole film. Jackson seems to want justice to take hold on his end but were not really sure for what. Labute displays the classic abuse of power type film but does it with such suspense & style. Samual Jackson is so convincing it’s scary.

Neal
Film Journalist