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Dancing_P [ 4.0 ]
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Arlington Road didn't make much of a splash when it initially came out - despite heavyweight leads, it fell within the late 90's glut of Richard Gere / Michael Douglas thrillers. Over the last ten years, however, it's built a reputation on the basis of its twist ending. Like most twist endings, it's pretty hard not to have some yahoo spoil it inadvertantly but the film's core problems lay somewhere beyond its last act.
Jeff Bridges plays a widowed history teacher with a young song who befriends his new neighbors (Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack) after their sons start hanging. They're nice enough but opinionated and evasive about their past, prompting Bridges to think they're evil terrorists.
The final twist honestly well executed - in fact the script itself is fairly well-written (whodathunk it, Ehren Kruger?). It's the direction that sinks this ship - bathed in technicolor ominousness and drippy pathos. It's impossible to feel any kind of ambiguity throughout since the director is doing all of the thinking for you and telegraphing every doubt and emotion ahead of time just in case. The actors make a valiant effort at nuance but the director is so completely oblivious to anything resembling subtlety that the film inevitably careens into the land of overwrought and predictable American cinema.
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chapter11 [ 7.5 ]
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Stunningly illogical but gripping and admirably performed home-terrorism tale is supposed to strike a nerve in the hearts of suburbanites everywhere, as kind of a "this could happen to you... yes, YOU!" type of thing.... as such it's preposterous and ultimately quite mean, but doggone if the thrills and the paranoid atmosphere don't make this a humdinger of a thriller. Entertaining, and in a way, pretty gripping. Oh, and Bridges and Robbins are great in this one.
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brandon [ 8.0 ]
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a very good, suspensful, thoughtful, conspiracy laced film .. it kind of straddled the line between a slightly off kilter independent film, and a more hollywood glossed production .. and for me, when the latter factor made its presence felt every now and then, it kind of pulled me out of the story. still, makes it onto my short list for 1999 ..
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doug [ 7.5 ]
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One of the most flawless, thought-out crime plot in a movie that I've seen. Though the repeated "creep from behind" killed a bit of movie.
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babyduck [ 5.0 ]
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Ehren Kruger is fond of penning plots so twisted and lead audiences to places so unexpected that by the end they are usually confused. He kept the plot twists to the minimum here, but leaves a whopper for the ending. Unfortunately to get to that ending the audience must plod through a lot of boredom.
As a result by the end you are just ... well, bored and surprised.
If you're a conspiracy buff, this fill might appeal to you, but there are other movies out there that are more watchable than this.
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mike [ 9.0 ]
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You have to see this. It touchs on a pretty big issue in todays american society, and delivers a not so subtle warning about how to view militias and anti-gov attacks.
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traino [ 9.5 ]
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Must see! Great ending! Must see suspense, action, thriller!!!!! Jeff Bridges rocks in this movie! Very good acting - could not give the movie a 10 though because of a few artsie things that last too long at the beginning of the movie.
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Mohawk [ 8.0 ]
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Slow to start off with.... Sense of mystery was lost as you always felt throughout that there was something wrong with the Tim Robbins character...and with the Jeff Bridges character teaching about terroists and his with being killed by 'so-called' terrorists the connection was plain to see...
However, the ending makes a great statement about modern American society...and for that I have beefed the rating up from a potential 7 to 8... the ending is a good compliment to what is a fairly lacklustre movie...
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rhvaldez [ 6.0 ]
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Would have been better if villian was an unseen factor (e.g. Parallax View from 1975).
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DokBrowne [ 8.5 ]
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The fact that I was highly anticipating the "big surprise ending of the year" made the actual denouement less impacting to me personally, but the last several minutes leading up to it were highly suspenseful and nerve-racking, except that the filmmakers sorta deflated their shocker by making it obvious over an entire minute before it happened (which feels like hours in a suspense thriller). What the surprise actually was made it interesting to review the movie and consider how intricately Jeff Bridges was set up throughout it all, how it was all staged from the beginning (which undoubtedly surfaces some continuity and logical errors that I probably missed, but who cares). When you review how so much of the movie portends this resolution and its aftermath, it creates a really bold and thought-provoking statement about how we view terrorists. Fascinating. Bridges is terrific in his devastatingly intense role, and Tim Robbins nails the creepy, understated ferocity of his "Oliver Lang" character, who, admirably, remains a great mystery throughout the entire movie, even after it's over. Joan Cusack and lovely Hope Davis are somewhat useless in the long run, but what they offer for their meager characters is solid
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Stitch [ 7.0 ]
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I basically liked this movie but there were a few things about it that bothered me enough to bring the rating down. The biggest was the ending. It actually has an interesting twist ending that is clever, but the tone and the way things turn out were (bit of a spoiler) just so horrible that it colored everything that came before. Smaller annoyances were the many slo-mos, and the over- done reaction shots of Jeff Bridges and the overly tense music that went along with them. Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack were great in roles that were intentionally suspect and sympathetic in turns, Jeff Bridges was only pretty good and I usually really like his work so that was a bit of a disappointment. Out of his performance I only remember his reaction shots. Probably not a good thing. It did keep my interest, but that ending just left a bad taste.
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RSOONSA [ 1.5 ]
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Good casting was not enough to make up for a astonishingly weak script, with hilarious plot holes. The ending, which has caused some comment, was a pleasant alteration from the usual, but arriving there made for a ludicrous ride. Hope Davis, as always, was sterling.
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JD [ 9.0 ]
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WHAT A MOVIE! This is an excellent film with a lasting impression especially considering it may not be far from the truth. A top notch espionage thriller which delivers a pulse pounding tale right to the unexpected conclusion. When you really consider how well the film ties itself together after it's over, it's astonishing. Jeff Bridges could not have been cast in a more perfect role and Tim Robbins surprised me with his performance. As for Joan Cusack, the eerie wife, incredible! Does it sound like I loved this movie or what? One of the best films of the year!
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Love_Spoon [ 6.5 ]
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Engrossing little tale about terrorism. Jeff Bridges is a college professor, specializing in courses about terrorism, largely because his wife, an FBI agent, was killed in the line of duty by an extremist group. So, he's left to raise their son on his own. He saves the life of a neighbor boy, who is the son of Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack. They become friendly but he begins to notice that stories about their past don't quite add up. He discovers that they are involved heavily in extremist activities, and sets out to prove as much. He is then cast into a web of terrorism that he cannot seem to escape from. Interesting and clever, but still ruthlessly mean with an ending that's completely unjust -- and consequently, unsatisfying. Good performances, especially by the paranoid Jeff Bridges, but the film succeeds in bugging me to death.
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KIL [ 6.0 ]
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Pretty good. Pretty suspenseful. The last 10 minutes had my heart racing, even when I watched it the 2nd time! www.outcrybookreview.com/meat.htm
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chris_gibbs [ 7.0 ]
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Okay, so this is one of the worst cases of a trailer giving away an entire film's premise step by little step, but I'm a fan of lanky actor Timmy Robbins, the aging but effective Jeff Bridges, and the cutest little patootie this side of a goofy aunt we've all known, Joan Cusack. Now let's see if this film can entertain me!
University professor who teaches a class in domestic terrorism suspects his "Leave it to Beaver"-type next door neighbors as being a dressed-up family behind certain harrowing right-wing activities. Does the man suffer from mass paranoia due to his wife's death to extremists' hands, or is he right on the ball?
Despite its general predictability and slow start, this film did manage to grab me by the balls, and fingernail-biting wise, thoroughly entertain me for its very last half hour. In fact, the ending of this film was one of the most inspired that I've seen come out of Hollywood in a while. I personally enjoyed its refreshing conclusion, whilst my better half, (my bitch) found it quite unsatisfying (She loved the film otherwise). It would be fair to say that this film's script is not its grandest asset, but that its director is the one who should be applauded for turning this sub-level thrilling story, into a most interesting thriller with a race to the finish ending from hell. The shooting style, the dark scenarios, the uneasy feel of its soundtrack (Note that the man behind those sounds is the very same man who composed many of weirdo director David Lynch's eerily satisfying soundtracks, Angelo Badalamenti) are three elements used effectively by the director to create a decent build-up of tension. It sorta felt like the movie FALLING DOWN for me, with a man literally "losing it" onscreen.
As the man who "loses it", Jeff Bridges staples his reputation as the actor with the fluffiest hair in Hollywood, a superb capacity to cry at a drop of a dime (A few less scenes of him tearing up might've improved my score as well) and the actor best to be remembered as the slow-motion running dude towards a camera. Despite those redundancies, Bridges did still manage to convey a real interesting man who slowly crumbles before our very eyes, while Robbins creepily presented his neighbor as a sorted side-dish to the hodge-podge of mayhem. Liking Joan Cusack as I do, I wished they'd have used her more often in this film, but that predicament was clearly not to be. Add an extremely powerful opening scene, a slow-to-get-going first hour, a semi-predictable plot to the stylish wonders of the director, an effective soundtrack, and some decent acting gigs by all involved, and you've got yourself an above-average thriller that doesn't break much new ground, but certainly entertains as a whole. The original ending might turn some off, but certainly, it helped in certifying my own opinion of this film towards the green light of recommendation.
No need to see this puppy in the theatres, but certainly an entertaining video/nacho night treat. Just make sure that you don't watch it with your neighbors..
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| Weighted Rating | : 6.3 |
| No. Ratings | : 27 | |
| No. Reviews | : 17 | |
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