Lakeview Terrace
Encyclopedia
Lakeview Terrace is a 2008 American thriller film directed by Neil LaBute
, co-produced by Will Smith
, written by David Loughery
and Howard Korder
, and starring Samuel L. Jackson
, Patrick Wilson
and Kerry Washington
. Jackson plays a racist LAPD
sergeant who terrorizes his new next-door neighbors because they are an interracially married
couple. The film was released on September 19, 2008.
) is a twenty-eight year veteran of the LAPD who is a virulent racist and conservative with a short temper. A single father, he is particularly strict on his two children, Marcus (Jaishon Fisher
) and Celia (Regine Nehy
). As his kids go to school the new neighbors are moving in. It turns out that the new homeowners are a young interracial couple, Chris and Lisa Mattson (Patrick Wilson
and Kerry Washington
), who are recently married and buying their first home.
Chris’s first exchanges with Turner have somewhat hostile undertones, with Abel making comments on Chris’s smoking and listening to hip hop music
. The following night, Chris and Lisa have sex in their swimming pool. Unknown to them, Abel's children are watching. Abel arrives home to see this spectacle and is upset, so he repositions the home security floodlights so they shine into Chris and Lisa's window, keeping them awake and irritating them. When Chris has the opportunity to discuss this, Abel claims that the lights are part of his security system to prevent crime and says that it is a complex process to shut down the system and the lights.
Abel attends a housewarming party hosted by Chris and Lisa. He is garrulous but has an edge, and criticizes Chris and his friends for their liberal political and social tendencies, on things ranging from the environment to police brutality. As he leaves, Chris tells Abel that he is starting to take offense to him, but does not plan to move. One evening, they hear noises downstairs, and find the tires of Chris' car slashed. They suspect Abel and call the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
to come but the police are unable to do anything.
Chris and Lisa have dinner with Lisa's father, who tells them they could choose to move away, if they wish, because acrimony with a police officer may mean trouble for them. Lisa's father however first ignores Chris, then he asks if they are planning to have children. The heated exchange between Chris and his father-in-law indicates problems between the two since he got engaged to Lisa, as it is likely that Lisa's father holds many similar views to Abel.
As the feud between the neighbors continues it also causes stresses the marriage between Chris and Lisa. Chris buys his own floodlights, and shines them into Abel's bedroom, as a way of taking matters into his own hands, although this is disapproved by Lisa as an attempt at "manliness". Lisa soon reveals that she is pregnant, which brings a rift into their marriage as Chris does not want to have children yet. Chris later finds out that Lisa skipped birth control pills to force the issue, and when he confronts her she accuses him of being shortsighted.
One day, when arresting a gunman who took his family hostage, Abel uses verbal abuse to disallude the suspect from committing suicide. However for this, Abel is suspended with pay indefinitely after the suspect files a lawsuit against the LAPD. Chris and Abel continue their feud with Abel hosting a loud bachelor party while the kids are away with their aunt, with some of his cop buddies.
Chris plants trees at the fence between their houses, which leads to an almost violent exchange between the two neighbors. Later Chris goes to a local bar, and as he finishes his drink, Abel enters and tells Chris that he lost his own wife, when a car hit her on a highway. Abel makes a last cryptic comment about his wife, wondering what she was doing out in that area, at that time with her white boss, when she was supposed to be working, implying she was being unfaithful to Abel (Chris believes that this was due to Abel's strict ways) and perhaps the reason why Abel distrusts mixed-race couples.
Wildfires rage in the hills surrounding the community. The neighbors attend a barbecue in a home down the hill. Abel's informant Clarence Darlington (Keith Loneker
) is sent to trash their home, as another means to making the Mattsons uncomfortable in the neighborhood. Lisa goes home early surprising him and they struggle, which leads to her being knocked out, but not before she triggers the alarm. Chris races home upon hearing the alarm, followed by Abel. Chris rushes to the injured Lisa, while Abel comes upon his hired criminal trying to escape and shoots him dead in the pool. The Mattsons go to the hospital where Lisa is found to be okay.
The wildfires are not contained and the residents of the neighborhood are instructed to pack a few things and leave their homes. Abel remains at his house hosing off his roof. He enters the Mattsons' home, hoping to retrieve Clarence's cell phone because he is afraid his call to the perpetrator could be traced, implicating him in the break-in. Before he can find it, Lisa and Chris unexpectedly return from the hospital and Abel returns to his home. Chris thanks Abel for helping him, tries to express a sense of community with Abel. When Chris and Lisa are packing to leave, Chris discovers the cell phone under their bed, and picks it up. He dials the last number logged on the phone and hears Abel answer. Chris realizes Abel is responsible for the break-in.
Abel comes over with his gun drawn, trying to convince him that the perpetrator was a police enemy and was trying to set Abel up. He and Chris struggle and Chris tells Lisa to take the car and perp's phone and get the police. Abel shoots Lisa's car and she crashes into a parked car. Chris tackles Abel and gets his gun, then runs to help Lisa out of the car. This leads to a standoff, with Chris holding Abel's gun and Abel now holding a second gun from his leg holster.
Officers of the LA County Sheriff
arrive. Abel hides his gun behind his back and tries to convince them Chris is unbalanced due to the break-in and attack on Lisa earlier that day. Chris won't drop his weapon until Abel puts his down, but Abel raises his arms and insists that he is unarmed. (The bullet holes in Chris' house and on Lisa's car would have incriminated Chris in the shooting since he is holding Abel's first gun that fired the shots.) Chris finally throws Abel off, by asking about his wife's death and how he was not able to recognize that she had become unfaithful to him. Infuriated, Abel shoots Chris and is promptly gunned down and killed by County Sheriff officers. Chris is taken to an ambulance with a gunshot wound to the chest, but is told he will live. He and Lisa later talk about their pride in their home, neighborhood, and soon-to-be family.
on North Deer Creek Drive. Film production can be viewed on Google's Street View.
The scene where Abel Turner comes out of the police station to talk to his partner and other police officers, was filmed in Hawthorne, California on the corner of Grevillea Ave. & 126th St.
reported that 48% of critics gave positive reviews based on 147 reviews. On Metacritic
, critics gave a 46% approval rating based on 28 reviews.
Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
gave the film a very positive review, awarding it his highest rating of four stars (out of four) and saying: "Some will find it exciting. Some will find it an opportunity for an examination of conscience. Some will leave feeling vaguely uneasy. Some won't like it and will be absolutely sure why they don't, but their reasons will not agree. Some will hate elements that others can't even see. Some will only see a thriller. I find movies like this alive and provoking, and I'm exhilarated to have my thinking challenged at every step of the way." It should also be noted that Ebert himself is in an interracial marriage.
Mick LaSalle
of the San Francisco Chronicle
also enjoyed the film, saying: "In its overall shape and message, Lakeview Terrace is a conventional suspense thriller, but the details kick it up a notch. ... The fun of Lakeview Terrace is not in what happens but in how it happens." J.R. Jones of the Chicago Reader called the film "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
."
Dennis Harvey of Variety
said that Lakeview Terrace "delivers fairly tense and engrossing drama" but "succumb[s] to thriller convention." Anthony Lane
of The New Yorker
said that "the first hour of the film ... feels dangerous, necessary, and rife with comic disturbance," but added that "the later stages ... overheat and spill into silliness." James Berardinelli
of ReelViews gave the film two stars out of four, saying that "the first two-thirds of Lakeview Terrace offer a little more subtlety and complexity than the seemingly straightforward premise would afford, but the climax is loud, dumb, generic, and over-the-top."
Wesley Morris
of The Boston Globe
said that "the movie might have something to say about black racism, but the conversations go nowhere, and the clichés of the genre take over." Sura Wood of The Hollywood Reporter
said: "[The idea of] a black actor cast as the virulent bigot, with the object of his campaign of harassment the young interracial couple who move in next door, could be viewed as a novel twist. But the film, absent a sense of place and populated by repellent or weak characters, soon devolves into an increasingly foul litany of events." Joe Morgenstern
of The Wall Street Journal
gave it one half of a star out of five, and called the film a "joyless and airless suspense thriller."
On its opening weekend, the film grossed $15 million placing it at number one in the United States. The film grossed $39.2 million in the United States and Canada and $3.2 million in other territories, making $42.4 million worldwide.
Neil LaBute
Neil N. LaBute is an American film director, screenwriter and playwright.-Early life:LaBute was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Marian, a hospital receptionist, and Richard LaBute, a long-haul truck driver. LaBute is of French Canadian, English and Irish ancestry, and was raised in Spokane,...
, co-produced by Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
, written by David Loughery
David Loughery
David Loughery is an American screenwriter and producer. Born in Chicago, Loughery attended Ball State University and the University of Iowa where he was a member of the Iowa Playwrights Workshop. His first produced screenplay was Dreamscape in 1984...
and Howard Korder
Howard Korder
Howard Korder is an American screenwriter and playwright. He is the author of the 1988 coming-of-age play Boy's Life, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize for Drama nomination. His play Search and Destroy was adapted into a film in 1995. Among the screenplays he has written are The Passion of Ayn...
, and starring Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
, Patrick Wilson
Patrick Wilson (actor)
Patrick Joseph Wilson is an American actor and singer. Wilson has spent years singing lead roles in major Broadway musicals, beginning in 1996. In 2003, he appeared in the HBO mini-series Angels in America...
and Kerry Washington
Kerry Washington
Kerry Washington is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Ray Charles's wife, Della Bea Robinson, in the film Ray , as Idi Amin's wife Kay in The Last King of Scotland, and as Alicia Masters, love interest of Ben Grimm, The Thing, in the live-action Fantastic Four films of 2005 and 2007...
. Jackson plays a racist LAPD
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
sergeant who terrorizes his new next-door neighbors because they are an interracially married
Interracial marriage
Interracial marriage occurs when two people of differing racial groups marry. This is a form of exogamy and can be seen in the broader context of miscegenation .-Legality of interracial marriage:In the Western world certain jurisdictions have had regulations...
couple. The film was released on September 19, 2008.
Plot
Abel Turner (Samuel L. JacksonSamuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
) is a twenty-eight year veteran of the LAPD who is a virulent racist and conservative with a short temper. A single father, he is particularly strict on his two children, Marcus (Jaishon Fisher
Jaishon Fisher
Jaishon Fisher is an American teen actor. He is younger brother of the actor Jamai Fisher.-Filmography:-Awards/Nominations:-External links:...
) and Celia (Regine Nehy
Regine Nehy
Regine Nehy is an American film and television actress.Before her acting career took off, she danced at the Rock School for Dance Education. She has appeared in Grey's Anatomy , Weapons , Pride, Super Sweet 16: The Movie, and Boot Camp. Regine also appears as Celia Regine Nehy (born November 14,...
). As his kids go to school the new neighbors are moving in. It turns out that the new homeowners are a young interracial couple, Chris and Lisa Mattson (Patrick Wilson
Patrick Wilson (actor)
Patrick Joseph Wilson is an American actor and singer. Wilson has spent years singing lead roles in major Broadway musicals, beginning in 1996. In 2003, he appeared in the HBO mini-series Angels in America...
and Kerry Washington
Kerry Washington
Kerry Washington is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Ray Charles's wife, Della Bea Robinson, in the film Ray , as Idi Amin's wife Kay in The Last King of Scotland, and as Alicia Masters, love interest of Ben Grimm, The Thing, in the live-action Fantastic Four films of 2005 and 2007...
), who are recently married and buying their first home.
Chris’s first exchanges with Turner have somewhat hostile undertones, with Abel making comments on Chris’s smoking and listening to hip hop music
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
. The following night, Chris and Lisa have sex in their swimming pool. Unknown to them, Abel's children are watching. Abel arrives home to see this spectacle and is upset, so he repositions the home security floodlights so they shine into Chris and Lisa's window, keeping them awake and irritating them. When Chris has the opportunity to discuss this, Abel claims that the lights are part of his security system to prevent crime and says that it is a complex process to shut down the system and the lights.
Abel attends a housewarming party hosted by Chris and Lisa. He is garrulous but has an edge, and criticizes Chris and his friends for their liberal political and social tendencies, on things ranging from the environment to police brutality. As he leaves, Chris tells Abel that he is starting to take offense to him, but does not plan to move. One evening, they hear noises downstairs, and find the tires of Chris' car slashed. They suspect Abel and call the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is a local county law enforcement agency that serves Los Angeles County, California. It is the fourth largest local policing agency in the United States, with the New York City Police Department being the first. The second largest is the Chicago Police...
to come but the police are unable to do anything.
Chris and Lisa have dinner with Lisa's father, who tells them they could choose to move away, if they wish, because acrimony with a police officer may mean trouble for them. Lisa's father however first ignores Chris, then he asks if they are planning to have children. The heated exchange between Chris and his father-in-law indicates problems between the two since he got engaged to Lisa, as it is likely that Lisa's father holds many similar views to Abel.
As the feud between the neighbors continues it also causes stresses the marriage between Chris and Lisa. Chris buys his own floodlights, and shines them into Abel's bedroom, as a way of taking matters into his own hands, although this is disapproved by Lisa as an attempt at "manliness". Lisa soon reveals that she is pregnant, which brings a rift into their marriage as Chris does not want to have children yet. Chris later finds out that Lisa skipped birth control pills to force the issue, and when he confronts her she accuses him of being shortsighted.
One day, when arresting a gunman who took his family hostage, Abel uses verbal abuse to disallude the suspect from committing suicide. However for this, Abel is suspended with pay indefinitely after the suspect files a lawsuit against the LAPD. Chris and Abel continue their feud with Abel hosting a loud bachelor party while the kids are away with their aunt, with some of his cop buddies.
Chris plants trees at the fence between their houses, which leads to an almost violent exchange between the two neighbors. Later Chris goes to a local bar, and as he finishes his drink, Abel enters and tells Chris that he lost his own wife, when a car hit her on a highway. Abel makes a last cryptic comment about his wife, wondering what she was doing out in that area, at that time with her white boss, when she was supposed to be working, implying she was being unfaithful to Abel (Chris believes that this was due to Abel's strict ways) and perhaps the reason why Abel distrusts mixed-race couples.
Wildfires rage in the hills surrounding the community. The neighbors attend a barbecue in a home down the hill. Abel's informant Clarence Darlington (Keith Loneker
Keith Loneker
Keith Loneker is an American actor. For much of his short career, his large football-lineman build has garnered him roles largely as thugs or football players...
) is sent to trash their home, as another means to making the Mattsons uncomfortable in the neighborhood. Lisa goes home early surprising him and they struggle, which leads to her being knocked out, but not before she triggers the alarm. Chris races home upon hearing the alarm, followed by Abel. Chris rushes to the injured Lisa, while Abel comes upon his hired criminal trying to escape and shoots him dead in the pool. The Mattsons go to the hospital where Lisa is found to be okay.
The wildfires are not contained and the residents of the neighborhood are instructed to pack a few things and leave their homes. Abel remains at his house hosing off his roof. He enters the Mattsons' home, hoping to retrieve Clarence's cell phone because he is afraid his call to the perpetrator could be traced, implicating him in the break-in. Before he can find it, Lisa and Chris unexpectedly return from the hospital and Abel returns to his home. Chris thanks Abel for helping him, tries to express a sense of community with Abel. When Chris and Lisa are packing to leave, Chris discovers the cell phone under their bed, and picks it up. He dials the last number logged on the phone and hears Abel answer. Chris realizes Abel is responsible for the break-in.
Abel comes over with his gun drawn, trying to convince him that the perpetrator was a police enemy and was trying to set Abel up. He and Chris struggle and Chris tells Lisa to take the car and perp's phone and get the police. Abel shoots Lisa's car and she crashes into a parked car. Chris tackles Abel and gets his gun, then runs to help Lisa out of the car. This leads to a standoff, with Chris holding Abel's gun and Abel now holding a second gun from his leg holster.
Officers of the LA County Sheriff
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is a local county law enforcement agency that serves Los Angeles County, California. It is the fourth largest local policing agency in the United States, with the New York City Police Department being the first. The second largest is the Chicago Police...
arrive. Abel hides his gun behind his back and tries to convince them Chris is unbalanced due to the break-in and attack on Lisa earlier that day. Chris won't drop his weapon until Abel puts his down, but Abel raises his arms and insists that he is unarmed. (The bullet holes in Chris' house and on Lisa's car would have incriminated Chris in the shooting since he is holding Abel's first gun that fired the shots.) Chris finally throws Abel off, by asking about his wife's death and how he was not able to recognize that she had become unfaithful to him. Infuriated, Abel shoots Chris and is promptly gunned down and killed by County Sheriff officers. Chris is taken to an ambulance with a gunshot wound to the chest, but is told he will live. He and Lisa later talk about their pride in their home, neighborhood, and soon-to-be family.
Cast
- Samuel L. JacksonSamuel L. JacksonSamuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
as Abel Turner - Patrick WilsonPatrick Wilson (actor)Patrick Joseph Wilson is an American actor and singer. Wilson has spent years singing lead roles in major Broadway musicals, beginning in 1996. In 2003, he appeared in the HBO mini-series Angels in America...
as Chris Mattson - Kerry WashingtonKerry WashingtonKerry Washington is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Ray Charles's wife, Della Bea Robinson, in the film Ray , as Idi Amin's wife Kay in The Last King of Scotland, and as Alicia Masters, love interest of Ben Grimm, The Thing, in the live-action Fantastic Four films of 2005 and 2007...
as Lisa Mattson - Jaishon FisherJaishon FisherJaishon Fisher is an American teen actor. He is younger brother of the actor Jamai Fisher.-Filmography:-Awards/Nominations:-External links:...
as Marcus Turner - Regine NehyRegine NehyRegine Nehy is an American film and television actress.Before her acting career took off, she danced at the Rock School for Dance Education. She has appeared in Grey's Anatomy , Weapons , Pride, Super Sweet 16: The Movie, and Boot Camp. Regine also appears as Celia Regine Nehy (born November 14,...
as Celia Turner - Jay HernandezJay HernandezJavier Manuel "Jay" Hernandez, Jr. is an American actor.-Early life and career:Hernandez was born in Montebello, California, the son of Isis , a secretary and accountant, and Javier Hernandez, Sr., a mechanic. He has a younger sister, Amelia, and two older brothers, Michael and Gabriel. Hernandez...
as Javier Villareal - Keith LonekerKeith LonekerKeith Loneker is an American actor. For much of his short career, his large football-lineman build has garnered him roles largely as thugs or football players...
as Clarence Darlington - Ron GlassRon GlassRonald E. "Ron" Glass is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as the witty Det. Ron Harris in the television sitcom Barney Miller , and as the spiritual Shepherd Derrial Book in the short-lived 2002 science fiction series Firefly and its sequel film Serenity.-Early life:Glass was...
as Harold Perreau - Caleeb PinkettCaleeb PinkettCaleeb Pinkett is an American actor and writer. He is the younger brother of actress Jada Pinkett Smith, and the brother-in-law of actor/recording artist Will Smith, and uncle of Jaden Smith and Willow Smith...
as Damon Richards - Justin ChambersJustin ChambersJustin W. Chambers is an American actor and former Calvin Klein male fashion model. As of 2005, he is starring in the ABC drama series Grey's Anatomy as Dr. Alex Karev....
as Donnie Eaton - Juan DiazJuan DíazJuan Díaz may refer to:*Juan Díaz Canales, Spanish comics artist*Juan Díaz de Solís, Spanish navigator*Juan Díaz , Mexican-American boxer*Juan Díaz , Cuban baseball player...
as Steele - Lynn ChenLynn ChenLynn Chen is an American actress. Lynn Chen is best known for playing "Vivian Shing" in Sony Pictures Classic's feature film Saving Face, a role for which she won the "Outstanding Newcomer Award" at the 2006 Asian Excellence Awards.-Early life:...
as Eden
Filming locations
The majority of the movie was filmed in Walnut, CaliforniaWalnut, California
Walnut is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 29,172 at the 2010 census and its current mayor is Tom King, a former Detective from the Los Angeles Police Department....
on North Deer Creek Drive. Film production can be viewed on Google's Street View.
The scene where Abel Turner comes out of the police station to talk to his partner and other police officers, was filmed in Hawthorne, California on the corner of Grevillea Ave. & 126th St.
Reception
Critical reaction to Lakeview Terrace has been mixed. Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 48% of critics gave positive reviews based on 147 reviews. On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, critics gave a 46% approval rating based on 28 reviews.
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
gave the film a very positive review, awarding it his highest rating of four stars (out of four) and saying: "Some will find it exciting. Some will find it an opportunity for an examination of conscience. Some will leave feeling vaguely uneasy. Some won't like it and will be absolutely sure why they don't, but their reasons will not agree. Some will hate elements that others can't even see. Some will only see a thriller. I find movies like this alive and provoking, and I'm exhilarated to have my thinking challenged at every step of the way." It should also be noted that Ebert himself is in an interracial marriage.
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle is an American Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] [[film reviewer] and the author of two books on pre-[[Motion Picture Production Code|Hays Code]] Hollywood...
of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
also enjoyed the film, saying: "In its overall shape and message, Lakeview Terrace is a conventional suspense thriller, but the details kick it up a notch. ... The fun of Lakeview Terrace is not in what happens but in how it happens." J.R. Jones of the Chicago Reader called the film "one of the toughest racial dramas to come out of Hollywood since the fires died down—much tougher, for instance, than Paul Haggis
Paul Haggis
Paul Edward Haggis is a Canadian screenwriter, producer, and director. He spent his early career producing and directing various American and Canadian television network series.-Early life and education:...
's hand-wringing Oscar winner Crash
Crash (2004 film)
Crash is a 2004 American drama film co-written, produced, and directed by Paul Haggis. The film is about racial and social tensions in Los Angeles, California. A self-described "passion piece" for Haggis, Crash was inspired by a real life incident in which his Porsche was carjacked outside a video...
."
Dennis Harvey of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
said that Lakeview Terrace "delivers fairly tense and engrossing drama" but "succumb[s] to thriller convention." Anthony Lane
Anthony Lane
Anthony Lane is a film critic for The New Yorker magazine.-Personal life:Lane lives in Cambridge with Allison Pearson, a British writer and former Daily Mail columnist...
of The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
said that "the first hour of the film ... feels dangerous, necessary, and rife with comic disturbance," but added that "the later stages ... overheat and spill into silliness." James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli is an American online film critic.-Personal life:Berardinelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and spent his early childhood in Morristown, New Jersey. At the age of nine years, he relocated to the township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey...
of ReelViews gave the film two stars out of four, saying that "the first two-thirds of Lakeview Terrace offer a little more subtlety and complexity than the seemingly straightforward premise would afford, but the climax is loud, dumb, generic, and over-the-top."
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris is a film critic at The Boston Globe where he reviews films alongside Ty Burr. Morris and Burr also make regular appearances on NECN to discuss the latest films and do the weekly Take Two film review video series on Boston.com...
of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
said that "the movie might have something to say about black racism, but the conversations go nowhere, and the clichés of the genre take over." Sura Wood of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
said: "[The idea of] a black actor cast as the virulent bigot, with the object of his campaign of harassment the young interracial couple who move in next door, could be viewed as a novel twist. But the film, absent a sense of place and populated by repellent or weak characters, soon devolves into an increasingly foul litany of events." Joe Morgenstern
Joe Morgenstern
Joe Morgenstern is a Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic for The Wall Street Journal.-Career:Morgenstern graduated from Lehigh University in 1953. His first journalism experience was as news clerk at the New York Times...
of The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
gave it one half of a star out of five, and called the film a "joyless and airless suspense thriller."
On its opening weekend, the film grossed $15 million placing it at number one in the United States. The film grossed $39.2 million in the United States and Canada and $3.2 million in other territories, making $42.4 million worldwide.
DVD sales
Lakeview Terrace was released on January 27, 2009 and sold 1,194,420 units. It raised $20,119,729, slightly more than the film's budget.External links
- Lakeview Terrace debuts in top spot at box office CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...