Lakeview Not a Pretty Picture

Lakeview Terrace labors mightily to turn its B-movie cop/neighbor-from-hell premise into “deep social commentary about race, or real estate, or something,” writes Chris Farnsworth of E!, “but the result is an inexplicable mess.” The tensions between Samuel L. Jackson’s loose cannon cop and the interracial couple next door build nicely, but the end is “loud, dumb, generic, and over-the-top,” says James Berardinelli of Reelviews.

Jackson dominates the film, acting in “two familiar modes: eyeballs-popping and eyelids-narrowing,” writes Gregory Kirschling in Entertainment Weekly. Although Jackson's eyes “act the bejesus out of the script, the schtick has gotten old.” Even so, he’s “the best thing here.” His victims are generic, and the plot ludicrous. “The only surprise is that Neil LaBute directed it for hire.” (More Neil LaBute stories.)