A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: Arlington Road

Date Viewed: 7/17/99

Details:

Jeff Bridges

Joan Cusack

Hope Davis

Tim Robbins

Director: Mark Pellington

Score: +

The Review: This is a scary and disturbing drama/thriller: scary because of the atmosphere and the counter-type casting, and disturbing because its paranoid fantasies become all too easily believed. It's not a horror film in the classic sense, but it develops a horrific view of terrorism within the U.S. There are several unpredictable twists and turns which maintain interest, if not unfathomable mystery. This is an Ezekiel story -- "wheels within wheels within wheels." By the end, you too will be praying for a sequel.

After playing the part of rescuer of their son, Jeff Bridges slowly becomes acquainted with a neighbor family (Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack) who have quietly kept to themselves since moving in. Bridges' own young son slowly becomes a surrogate member of the neighbor's family and their activities, just as Bridges slowly starts to wonder about the background of Robbins, whom Bridges perceives as having something to hide. The placid neighborhood scene soon erupts with a masked past, paranoid delusions, violent accidents, and the underpinnings of the death of Bridges' wife.

Good ensemble cast, although Jeff Bridges' now characteristic stunned and uncomprehending stare is getting a bit worn. Cusack is chillingly vacant. The opening credits set the tone for the rest of the film with edgy fast cuts and unstable, difficult to focus on, images. More troublesome, however, are the opening scenes preceding the credits, the chilling antecedents of which only become clear in the movie's final scenes.

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