LAKEVIEW TERRACE

"We're not moving"

When Chris (Wilson) and Lisa (Washington) move into a pristine, suburban Los Angeles neighbourhood to start their new jobs and new lives, the newly married couple think they about to start their idyllic lives together. When they meet their new neighbour, LAPD officer Abel Turner (Jackson) this all changes however. While the rest of the neighbour feel save with a cop watching over them, Abel takes offence at Lisa and Chris's interracial marriage and thinks that they are not the right type of people to live in his neighbourhood and he will do anything to force them out.

Suburbia is meant to be a serine and idyllic place to raise a family and live your life but Hollywood certainly wouldn't have you thinking that.

Samuel L. Jackson is an actor that doesn't like to be pigeon holed in the roles he takes. From a Jedi Knight to a freeze powered superhero and a gospel preaching hitman to a life changing basketball coach, Jackson is just at home playing the hero as he is the villain. For 'Lakeview Terrace' however, he gets the chance to play an old fashioned LAPD police officer who is stuck in his ways and his opinions. As Abel Turner, Jackson plays a character that is, in essence, racist towards an interracial couple who move into his neighbourhood. While racism isn't a new subject for cinema, showing that mixed race couple can face persecution from both sides of the racial divide is. When you add in the fact that Jackson's character is also a LAPD cop, this gives the couple nowhere to go and no one to report him to.

It is the characters that are pivotal to the story and with Samuel L. Jackson cast as the villain of the piece you need two fine performers to be able to face up to him. Director Neil LaBute and his casting team have brought together Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington to play Chris and Lisa and the two rise to the challenge. Patrick Wilson has always shown great promise in every role he plays, with standout performances in 'Hard Candy' and 'Little Children' and as Chris, the man put under extreme pressure from Abel. Kerry Washington also continues to impress, as she did in 'Ray' and 'The Last King of Scotland' and as Lisa she shows again that she is an actress that can command your attention.

For director Neil LaBute this is a return to form after the travesty that was his remake of 'The Wicker Man'. While he might not have quite captured the same spark as he did in his earlier work 'In the Company of Men', 'Your Friends & Neighbors' and 'Nurse Betty', this is a step in the right direction, even though it is a more commercial one. Still, the movie does look at the problems that interracial couples face still in America and the fact that everyone needs to change, whatever their race, religion or creed.

With a trio of excellent performances, 'Lakeview Terrace' is a movie that is worth your time. While it may not be as filled with action as it could be or even as tense but with Samuel L. Jackson as your villain, you know that you are in for an emotional and sometimes thought provoking journey.