" Arlington Road " * * 1/2
Despite its plethora of unanswered questions, and a loud, grating performance by Jeff Bridges, ARLINGTON ROAD still turns out to be an effective thriller. Sort of. I was reminded of the film SEVEN (the only movie that has ever left me shaking), with its claustrophobic atmosphere, moody score (courtesy the great Angelo Badalamenti), and sense of impending doom. SEVEN is a far superior motion picture, but I cannot discount any film that manages to leave me unnerved.
You know right away that Michael Faraday (an unmercifully one-note Bridges), who teaches a course on terrorism, and Oliver Lang (Tim Robbins), the seemingly normal guy next door, are going to have problems. After rescuing the his neighborıs young boy and, Iım not sure what this scene has anything to with the rest of the film Tom quickly suspects wrongdoing. He is obsessed over the death of his wife, and rants about the evil that are extremist groups all of which seems to feed some basic paranoia he harbors. And, thus begins a film-long quest to find out just why somebody would lie about where they attended college.
I mentioned loose ends: this movie has em. For instance, what does the opening sequence have to do with anything else that comes after? I mean, except to introduce the two men. And why (SPOILER alert), considering the overall scheme of things, did Michaelıs girlfriend have to die? What was the deal with the blueprint, or whatever it was, hidden behind the picture frame? Those computers the villains were driving around with?? And, then ARLINGTON ROAD commits the ultimate cinematic no-no of assuming that climactic events are going to unfold in just the right way, for the film to pay off like it wants to, when any number of things could go wrong to avert that ending. Not that I have problem with this ending, which comes completely out of left field, but in a good way. Iım only saying donıt cheat the audience. Had ARLINGTON ROAD played fair, the whole way, it wouldıve been a terrific entertainment. Lose Jeff Bridges, or at least tone him down a few trillion notches, and it wouldıve been one of the yearıs best.
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