'Lakeview Terrace' review

Patrick Wilson and Samuel L. Jackson in "Lakeview Terrace" (Credit: Sony)

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An interracial couple (Patrick Wilson, Kerry Washington) moves into a somewhat questionable neighborhood in California, but it's OK because their next-door neighbor, Abel (Samuel L. Jackson), is a cop. Wait, strike that: The officer doesn't approve of a black woman with a white man, and slowly uses escalating passive-aggressive behavior to make his viewpoint clear.

Big question: Can director Neil LaBute ("The Shape of Things") get back on track after the astonishingly silly but very funny remake of "The Wicker Man"?

Skip it: A B-movie trying to be seen as more than that, "Lakeview Terrace" accomplishes less by covering racial tension in such a fleeting, superficial manner.  As a bonkers third-act leads to a crazy-crazy bang-bang finale, the movie becomes as unhinged as Abel. It's less interested in the right way to teach a lesson than the usual corruptible nature of cops and its blatant wildfires-as-race-war metaphor.

Catch it: If you want to feel really old when Abel's teenage daughter (Regine Nehy) isn't sure if she's familiar with Destiny's Child songs. Just think, someday music listeners could be too young to know about the Jonas Brothers!

Bottom line: This is a perfectly decent, occasionally exciting action picture, anchored by the increasing distance between Wilson and Washington, and Jackson's eerie methods of friendly intimidation. But by giving Abel a specific reason for his anti-white prejudice, "Lakeview Terrace" takes the ambiguity out of its conflict and the heat out of its fire.

Bonus: Abel insists that it's disrespectable to wear headphones at the dinner table. We agree. How about breakfast, Dad?

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