On L List of Movie Reviews

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Lakeview Terrace (2008)

Rate: 7
Viewed: 7/23

7/23: At first, because of the DVD cover, I thought Lakeview Terrace would be a rip-off of Unlawful Entry.

But it's a good thing that it didn't happen. This is the best performance by Samuel L. Jackson since Pulp Fiction. His character, Abel Turner, does remind me of the cross between Officer Pete Davis (Ray Liotta) and Denzel Washington's Alonzo Harris from Training Day.

The conversations Abel has with the newly moved-in white resident Chris Mattson are strange like one of his lines: "Say, you know, you can listen to that noise all night long, but when you wake up in the morning, you'll still be white." I can see where Abel is coming from. He, as a police officer, has worked on the other side so much that his personality has been significantly altered.

As great as Samuel L. Jackson is, the rest of the film is fair. The ending is typical but an easy way out. What's going on with Abel and Chris seems to exist in a vacuum with almost no participation from other neighbors. It'll be nice to know how they've been affected by Abel just like his children. Yet the director makes the mistake by showing several scenes involving only Abel because this movie is supposed to be from Chris' point of view. By the way, Lakeview Terrace is based on a series of real-life events involving Los Angeles police officer Irsie Henry who ended up being fired.

All in all, Lakeview Terrace works well for the most part, but the chief reason to see it is Samuel L. Jackson.

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