ARLINGTON ROAD. Directed by Mark Pellington. Written by Ehren Kruger. Starring Jeff Bridges and Tim Robbins. Rated R (language, violence).
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This movie should have been more satisfying than it is.
It contains several separate sequences that are exciting, well-played and filmed, and quite provocative. But it hangs together rather sloppily, with uneven pacing that I found annoying. And the denoument, while being one of those exciting, provocative sequences (as well as being quite unexpected, at least by me) relies a bit too much on coincidence and streches of logic to be as pleasing as the ending to a thriller should be.
Certainly as a thriller with as much going for it as this one has. Bridges and Robbins are two of the most interesting actors around, and although I think Robbins may have played his part with a bit too much restraint, they both turn in the kind of performances we've come to expect from them. And Joan Cusack, as the Robbin's character's wife, is surprisingly chilling and effective.
And the plot has plenty of Hitchcockian suspense and excitement--that is to say, suspense and excitement that's as much fun to watch in the building up as in the playing out. Bridges is Michael Faraday, a college history professor whose special research interest is domestic terrorism. Robbins is his neighbor. Oliver, who slowly provokes suspicion (or is it paranoia?) in Faraday. Oliver might be able to serve as a case-in-point for that domestic terrorism class.
To add some emotional punch, Faraday's wife was an FBI agent killed in a botched raid (which looks like a take-off on the Ruby Ridge stand-off). And he doesn't think the government's conclusion that a lone madman was responsible for a St. Louis IRS building bombing (the slides show scenes from the Oklahoma City tragedy).
Lots of good ingredients, then, for a nice thriller. Is your neighbor, who seems so normal, who gives your kid batting tips and throws a fun backyard bar-b-que, really a terrorist?
For long stretches, Arlington Road lives up to the promise of its interesting story and the acting pedigrees of its stars. But the total package, especially the contrivances of the last 15 minutes or so, falls short.
[1999. Not published]