st. jeff bridges, tim robbins, joan cusack
top 10 signs your neighbour might be a terrorist... according to Arlington Road:
10. Your neighbourhood has picket fences
9. Neighbour's kids are playing with explosives
8. Neighbour's wife is extraordinarily bubbly
7. Neighbour is nice but reserved
6. ... your neighbour wins your kid's and wife's heart
5. The pizza delivery/courier/telephone service van likes parking in front of your house
4. You are paranoid (and, as the trailer says, "your paranoia is real")
3. Your spouse used to work for the FBI
2. You live in America
... I can't find another one. But really, that's what's happening in Arlington Road. It is not often that I watch movies like this, but this time I got a free double pass for a preview screening. From the beginning I was unimpressed - some kid bleeding on a suburban street, Jeff Bridges takes him to the hospital. Then the opening credits, with amusingly cliched images of small-town/ suburban America, lots and lots of white picket fences from different angles, a dog chewing on something (which I found rather scary as well as misleading - I thought it was a horror movie about a man-eating mutant dog), all in hallucinogenic dark red-blue tint. Nine Inch Nails' Burn videoclip springs to mind. Oh dear, does it all have to be very obvious? There's something strange in the neighbourhood, something dark and festering behind the fences and the closed doors etc. Is there an Arlington Road near Columbine High, by the way?
And Joan Cusack is so irritating, or as Margaret Pomerantz puts it, exaggerated. There she goes spilling the beans with her more puppy than puppy dog expression, more bubbly than beer and detergent character and constant 'anyone for cookies' face and voice. When she's on screen, you know there's something wrong with America.
On the other hand, if you think your neighbour is a terrorist, do not, I repeat, DO NOT interfere, especially with his or her business. Just lock your kids in their room with some junk food and a Playstation, because what happens to Jeff Bridges might happen to you. And this is where the story gets interesting. You see his wife, who worked for the FBI, was killed in a terrorist investigation that went horribly wrong. It is so horrible that schoolteacher Jeff can't get over it, gets emotional in front of his class and actually breaks down on a class excursion. What's more, his son prefers his neighbour, Tim Robbins, to Jeff. Naturally Jeff works out Tim must therefore be a terrorist intent on kidnapping his son to be used as a hostage in the bombing of yet another government building. Oh say can you sing? Of course Jeff swears to save his son, and the thousands of people in that building by chasing the van that is fitted with the bomb and his son and prevent it from entering the building. At this point, the movie looks like it is coming out of a photocopier. Well, the action was good, the car chase scenes were pretty cool, why wasn't I excited? (No, it is not a question. Please don't answer, I don't want to hear.)
But after everything I've written, I want to cheer Pellington for the excellent twist at the end. After getting so unnecessarily bored with the cliches and contemplating walking out of the cinema, my effort to stay awake through the cinematic torture pays off and I nearly jumped out of my seat and screamed in a fit of excitement. The TWIST. THE twist! Worth sneaking in for.
natalia laban
comments? email the authorAdrian Gunadi calls Arlington Road "one of the best political thrillers to tackle issues of Americana culture." Read his review.