Arlington Road | | Cast : | Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack | | Director : | Mark Pellington | | Studio : | Columbia/Tristar Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | July 09, 1999 | | DVD Released Date : | March 23, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 17, 2005 | | Summary | Those scary white republicans! | Content
 | What shocks me about many of the movie reviews written on these boards is the apparent blindness to possible political manipulation or propaganda that might exist in any well known movie. Is that to say that hollywood is politcally neutral? Is tim robbins politically neutral? What is the message here? That being white, republican and christian is a dangerous thing? That those who would blow up innocent children are not that far removed from the typical conservative? Certainly. You would have to be an idiot not to see that.
Consider two quotes in this film. One by faraday the bridges character who is teaching a class on domestic terrorism. Referring to the oklahoma city bombing which is depited here as the st luois bombimg faraday puts forth his theory that the killer did not act alone. He says that the killer was a "moderate republican." What does that mean? That a real conservative can be expected to kill 300 people? In another quote the robbin's character, the terrorist says "there are millions of us" and indeed it seems that they are. These pasty faced ultra pale people are everywhere in this film manipulating your children in a boy scout group, following you everywhere you go and listening in on your phone calls. The bad guys are so smart and so large in number that in the end they not only succeed in blowing up a federal building but are able to kill and pin the crime on faraday.
This film a fairly taut thriller with a pleasantly unusaul ending. The good guy doesn't win. Yes it is intense with many ultra close up shots so that you can't see who may be in the background. At first faraday is a little suspicious of his neighbors though he has little reason to be suspicious. And while faraday is far too suspicous it almost seems plausable because of his background as a teacher of terrorists and the fact his fbi wife was killed by them. Still he jumpes to conclusions and finds out what is about to take place but he can't stop it.
..........socks |
| Rating | | | Date | May 23, 2005 | | Summary | Excellent Thriller, overlooked by many! | Content
| This movie is a trip, it has suspense, action, drama, mystery, and is powerfully moving. It's one of those that has a GREAT ending, though it does not end the way you would hope it would, making it all the more realistic! I recommend this to rent sometime. I think you'll enjoy it!
In this suspenseful thriller, a man begins to suspect his neighbors are not what they appear to be - and their secrets could be deadly. Michael Faraday (played by Jeff Bridges) is a college professor whose wife, an FBI agent, was killed in the line of duty by members of an extremist right-wing terrorist group, leaving him to raise their nine-year-old son by himself. One day, he saves the life of a boy he sees on the street.
...The child turns out to be the son of his new neighbors, Oliver and Cheryl Lang (Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack). Michael soon becomes friendly with the grateful Langs, who seem as cheerfully bland as anyone could hope from denizens of suburbia. But the better Michael gets to know Oliver, the more he becomes convinced that something isn't quite right; Oliver seems almost too clean and perfect, and Michael begins to notice that small details in Oliver's stories don't quite add up. The question is whether Michael's well-founded paranoia about the radical right is getting the better of him, or are the Langs up to something a lot more sinister than their cheerful smiles and manicured lawn would suggest? |
| Rating | | | Date | May 02, 2005 | | Summary | Suspense! | Content
| Jeff Bridges and Tim Robbins give Oscar-like performances in this chilling tale. It is a sobering look at home-grown terrorism and how it can be found in our own back yard. The movie makes one wonder if another Oklahoma City incident is possible. How many people hate America, using the government as their demon? In this bone-chilling tale, the good guys don't always win, and that is the most sobering part of the film. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 28, 2005 | | Summary | Great movie with a surprising ending | Content
| i always saw previews for this movie on other movies so i finally decided to rent it. I thought it was a great movie with great acting and a surprising ending. I then went out and bought it. It's well worth the rent. Unless of course you've already rented it, then you should buy it. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 19, 2005 | | Summary | A hair-raising, yet plot-flawed film... | Content
| Winner of the Nicholl Fellowship Screenwriting competition sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Arlington Road is only the sixth winner of the award to actually make it onto the big screen. Sporting a star-studded cast, the film creates an aura of tension and suspense that keeps the audience glued to the screen. With a thought-twisting and surprising plotline, Arlington Road reinforces the post-September 11th (even though it's a 1999 movie) mentality that terrorists lurk around every corner. Tim Robbins puts in his best performance since appearing in the critically acclaimed Shawshank Redemption, and Jeff Bridges turns in a memorable performance himself. Both are fitting, since Arlington Road is a memorable movie...
Michael Faraday (Jeff Bridges) is a college professor who specializes in studying homegrown terrorists in the United States. A resident of Northern Virginia, his FBI agent wife died in the midst of a botched Ruby Ridge-style government raid. With a ten-year-old son, Grant (Spencer Treat Clark), to raise, Michael becomes an expert on the mindset and methods of terrorists such as Timothy McVeigh. Studying the terrorist threat becomes the central focus of his life, and its domination of his thoughts causes Michael to develop an acute form of paranoia.
But when the Arlington Road (the street where Michael lives) house next door is purchased by Oliver (Tim Robbins) and Cheryl Lang (Joan Cusack), Michael's life begins to change for the better. The friendliness of his new neighbors creates new inroads in Michael's ability to coup with the loss of his wife, and Grant becomes best friends with the Langs' son Brady (Mason Gamble). Things are going smoothly between the Faradays and the Langs until Michael catches Oliver in a petty lie. Immediately, his paranoia kicks in, and as the Langs continue their strange behavior (such as hiding a set of blueprints from him), Michael's fears get the best of him.
Investigating the background of the Langs, Michael finds out that they are not who they claim to be. In fact, Oliver is actually known as William Fenimore. Convinced that the Langs are planning an attack on the FBI headquarters (one on par with the Oklahoma City bombing), Michael attempts to convince his son, his colleagues, and anyone who will listen. But no one seems to understand. Will Michael convince the FBI before it's too late? Or is he only a delusional madman living out his paranoid fantasies in the aftermath of his wife's death?
Wrought with suspense and peppered with hair-raising moments, Arlington Road is a unique and compelling film. The premise is befitting of a post-September 11th terrorist film, and I wouldn't be surprised if Hollywood remakes the film using Islamic terrorists instead of the homegrown brand from this movie. With a surprise ending which will keep you guessing until the end (and probably afterward since the whole thing tends to stretch the limits of reality), Arlington Road is a fun and interesting film. Possessing a well-maintained level of suspense and an interesting set of characters, Arlington Road is a definite must-see film...
The DVD Report |
|
