the audience applauded

Overrated

A Major Disappointment

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Well, such luminaries as Tim Robbins and Jeff Bredges can probably save any movie from being bore or a drag and make it shining perfect gem. Maybe. This one, Arlington Road, a thriller about terrorism, mistaken identity, unexpected discoveries and shocking truths revealed, is not saved by their performances. Whta is wrong, we may ask. First, and this is a huge, way too huge drawback of many films, is its length - almost 2 never-ending hours. The tempo drags miserably at the beginning, then almost totally dies in the midstm then gets some acceleration, then sinks heavily again, then suddenly gets very frantic. There are numerous plot holes which I ain't going to reveal for fear of spoilers, and several moments are very questionable and scepticism-arising. Several plot lines are very pale and bealk, and thinly-worked out. So, the whole thing seemes like a very promising affair which is very much raw and undercooked and then generously over-peppered at the end.

I can admit it: Arlington Road is a movie that can build up suspense and have you on the edge of your seat. It's not simplistic or predictable, it's not a sweet story with an obligatory happy ending. It has everything to be a great thriller.But, like the Nolan brothers taught us in 2006, in a trick, it's not enough to just make something disappear, you have to bring it back, and the way you do it is what defines your skill as a magician. The same rules apply to the magic of cinema, that is, all the suspense that you have built has to unwind at the end, so that you finally see all the pieces of the puzzle turn into a whole picture. And that's exactly where Arlington Road cheats the audience big time.Feeling suspicious over something, trying to convince other people that there's fishy stuff going on and being driven insane by their disbelief, only to find yourself the culprit framed for exactly the thing you were trying to uncover. I guess some tropes just never get old. However, easy as it is to employ, it's also based on some low blow that you hope the audience will somehow get over for the sake of their own entertainment's integrity.Well, i don't feel like getting over being cheated this time. Because the only way Arlington Road could have pulled off its trick is by making its protagonist a complete idiot, who's literally going insane over the things that happen in his life and inside his head, while everyone close to him are completely blind and refusing to believe anything that goes beyond their sweet and dandy image of the world around them until it's simply too late. Lack of communication between people, a total absence of common sense and logical thinking, behavior driven not even by the emotions but by some primordial instincts instead - which all mysteriously leads our poor hero to the only place he was prescribed to arrive to, as if he was a bullet shot from a high-accuracy weapon to hit a bull's eye from miles away. I simply refuse to buy it.The point Arlington Road tries to drive home over and over again is that a rogue power can outtrick the system and hurt it, while the system itself would be denying its vulnerability and intentionally shutting off the inconvenient truth, going for a scapegoat instead. And maybe it's actually possible, but only if you are wickedly smart and leave nothing to chance indeed. However, the shine of Arlington Road's magic relies on your own will to play dumb and be fooled. And if you simply allow yourself to keep your eyes open and look where it really matters instead of where the trickster wants you to, you'll see that there is no real magic here, just some dusty mirrors and strings hanging from the ceiling. And, unfortunately, the guy pulling them simply couldn't do it artfully enough to make this contraption look natural.

A bleak, pessimistic little thriller of a film, which failed to be a blockbuster but wowed audiences no less. A top notch cast, a clever story and oodles of suspense help to make this a much underrated gem of a film, much like the previous year's BREAKDOWN, with Kurt Russell.The plot is a pure product of the '90s, following in the same government conspiracy steps as stuff like ENEMY OF THE STATE. Jeff Bridges, as the paranoid, wacko hero, bears more than a passing resemblance to the X-FILES' Fox Mulder, with both guys having their own conspiracy theories (and nobody believing them). The structure of the film is very good, with the first hour moving slowly and being the basic set-up, then the next half hour moving up a notch into a fast-moving race against the clock to find out the truth, until the last twenty minutes which turn into sheer adrenaline pumping horror.The cast are all great in this film, with the acting honours going to Tim Robbins (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION) who does a great portrayal of an apparently innocent man who turns out to be a terrorist and a murderer. Jeff Bridges is solid as the nutty, on the edge teacher whose theories grow more and more outlandish as time goes on, and we really feel for him by the time the credits roll. With able support from the two female leads helping to give the film a well-rounded feel in the acting stakes, as well as a realistic turn from the guy playing the FBI man, the acting really can't be faulted for this film.It's the direction, though, which makes everything excellent. The plot twists and turns and little, unnoticeable things turn out to have major consequences. Thankfully, for a change we aren't always one step ahead of the main character, we too (as an audience) are surprised and shocked by the events which occur. There is also a commendably hard edge to the film too, with many 'good' characters dying, it's not often we see a young boy being graphically gunned down in cold blood.There is little in the way of action until a top-notch car chase in the last twenty minutes, which is edge of the seat stuff, but then there doesn't need to be either. Disturbingly brilliant, this is a film which will make you think just who could be behind the door across the street. It left me feeling exhausted, disappointed and yet satisfied at the same time. The highest recommendation.

The very ending of this film showing that evil may win out is chilling enough just to prove that this was a very well made film.Jeff Bridges was excellent as the college professor who slowly comes to see that his neighbors are terrorists. He is equally matched by Tim Robbins, with those eerie looking eyes and Joan Cusack, as the wife of Robbins. Her cold veneer shows in itself what is to become.Ironically, Bridges is so intense on his teaching of government and anti-government activities, it becomes feasible unfortunately that he himself was the mastermind to the disastrous terrorist act. No one believed him as circumstances began to pile up on the side of the bad guys.