A good beginning implodes under the wieght of the script's ridiculous and convaluted third act.
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09/20/08
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Lakeview Terrace (2008)
47
%
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Reviews Counted:150
Fresh:70
Rotten:80
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: This thriller about a menacing cop wreaking havoc on his neighbors is tense enough but threatens absurdity when it enters into excessive potboiler territory.
Theatrical Release:Sep 19, 2008 Wide
Box Office: $39,263,506
Synopsis: A quick perusal of any of LAKEVIEW TERRACE's promotional materials--its nervy trailer, its foreboding (and painterly) dawn-hued poster featuring Samuel L. Jackson looking less-than-neighborly in... [More]
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Wilson, Kerry Washington, Jay Hernandez
Director: Neil LaBute
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Reviews for Lakeview Terrace
A nasty neighbor movie that fails to engage us.
09/20/08
It starts off with a promising jolt of menace but soon deteriorates into predictable, formulaic mayhem that's rooted in prejudice.
09/20/08
There's no real surprises, except for how clueless the characters are.
09/19/08
Aside from the weak final act, this is a movie about black and white that refreshingly focuses on the gray.
09/19/08
Labute's reputation rests in large part on his penchant for provocation and his facility in inverting cliches, and both are on full display in Lakeview Terrace.
09/19/08
Compared to other LaBute films, Lakeview Terrace is rather tame. That's probably true, but he still leaves you feeling as if you need to go home and take a hot, soapy shower.
09/19/08
Lakeview Terrace is a serviceable enough popcorn exercise in a few floundering Angelenos who can't just get along.
09/19/08
Top CriticSome moments are satisfying and they linger, and then it all becomes so ridiculous, the film falls apart.
09/19/08
The movie's only mark of restraint is the absence of an earthquake.
09/19/08
Top CriticThis tediously predictable thriller about Los Angeles yuppies terrorized by their blue-collar neighbor is undone by its pretensions to seriousness.
09/19/08
Jackson hasn't had a role this good or this complex in many a moon, even if the rote ending betrays the complexity of the set-up.
09/19/08
Top CriticSubtlety is not the strong suit of Lakeview Terrace. In fact, it's a suit Lakeview Terrace hasn't even heard of.
09/19/08
A racial thriller that may be the feel-bad movie of the summer.
09/19/08
In its overall shape and message, Lakeview Terrace is a conventional suspense thriller, but the details kick it up a notch.
09/19/08
Top CriticA would-be thriller lacking in suspense, Lakeview Terrace nonetheless commands attention throughout.
09/19/08
Lakeview Terrace grabs a fistful of hot-button story elements -- race, sex, politics -- and promptly mixes them into the thriller equivalent of tapioca.
09/19/08
Lakeview Terrace [is] an unsettling address for everyone -- black, white or 'blue'.
09/19/08
Top CriticThe setup is intriguing, but the execution is juvenile and at times stupid.
09/19/08
Lakeview Terrace holds your interest, though the bad faith on all sides makes it something of an endurance test.
09/19/08
Top CriticLatest News for Lakeview Terrace
January 17, 2009:
Worst case scenario moviemaking, with interracial mating as the cinematic incendiary device of choice, along with Jackson's honed terror tactics that can make you shrivel with the slightest disapproving snarl. 
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January 13, 2009:
Interracial mating as the cinematic incendiary device of choice, and it's not white racists that are made to seethe about cross-racial romance, but oddly enough, black folks. Reality check, please.
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December 05, 2008:
UK Critics Consensus: Writers Warm to Madagascar 2; UK Critics Liked Lakeview Terrace
With thirteen new releases in the UK cinemas this weekend, let Rotten Tomatoes help you sort the tinsel from the turkeys. We have animals on the loose in Madagascar: Escape 2... More...
October 20, 2008:
Sam Jackson Talks Lakeview Terrace: Taking The Tough Questions
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