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Amazon.co.uk Review
It's easy to understand why Arlington Road sat on the studio shelf for nearly a year. No, the film isn't awful; rather, it's an extremely edgy and ultimately bleak thriller that offers no clear-cut heroes or villains. In other words, Hollywood had no idea how to sell it. Director Mark Pellington's underrated directorial debut, Going All the Way, suffered the same fate, essentially because the film-maker's presentation of suburban America often shifts dramatically within the same film. Characters are usually miserable and bordering on meltdown, no situation is straightforward and things usually end badly.
Arlington Road begins as an astute study of suburban paranoia. Michael Faraday (a face-pinched Jeff Bridges, who spends most of the film on the brink of tears) is a college professor who teaches American history courses on terrorism. He's been a conspiracy freak since his wife, an FBI agent, was killed during a botched raid that feels like a thinly fictionalised reference to the Waco tragedy. After saving the life of his next-door neighbour's child, he initially befriends the family (Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack), but soon believes the husband is a terrorist. The first half of the film mocks Faraday: he has no real evidence and is not the most stable of protagonists. Despite the fact that it was government paranoia that got his wife killed, Faraday repeats the same type of behaviour. Pellington shifts gears in the second half, however, and for a while, it seems that the film has simultaneously sunk into a cheap, high-octane brand of Hollywood entertainment and undermined its own point. But Arlington Road possesses a stunning ending that's a real gut punch, one that may leave you needing a second viewing to catch all of its smartly executed setup. --Dave McCoy
Special Features
English
Region 2
Region 2
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape|Amazon Verified Purchase
This film seems to have gone under the radar somewhat, as tends to be the case with Tim Robbins and/or Jeff Bridges movies. Which is a shame because, in my view, this is one of the cleverest, most thought-provoking films made in the last few years.
Michael Faraday (Bridges) is a lecturer at a university, who teaches a class on FBI misgivings and conspiracies, since the death of his wife, herself an FBI worker, two years previous. He befriends his neighbour Oliver Lang (Robbins), a structural engineer, after an incident involving the two men's sons. At first, the two men get on great, but when Michael starts receiving Oliver's email from the university of Pennsylvania (Oliver claims to have gone to Kansas State), he starts suspecting Oliver's background. So much so that it takes over his life, and those of the people that are around him...
Impressively acted by two of Hollywood's more underrated actors, this is a movie that can only be done justice by being watched. The storyline is far-fetched but, vitally, it never seems unlikely or implausible. And the ending, which ingeniusly ties in with almost everything that has gone before it, is unforgettable.
Make sure this masterpiece doesn't carry on going unnoticed.
Michael Faraday (Bridges) is a lecturer at a university, who teaches a class on FBI misgivings and conspiracies, since the death of his wife, herself an FBI worker, two years previous. He befriends his neighbour Oliver Lang (Robbins), a structural engineer, after an incident involving the two men's sons. At first, the two men get on great, but when Michael starts receiving Oliver's email from the university of Pennsylvania (Oliver claims to have gone to Kansas State), he starts suspecting Oliver's background. So much so that it takes over his life, and those of the people that are around him...
Impressively acted by two of Hollywood's more underrated actors, this is a movie that can only be done justice by being watched. The storyline is far-fetched but, vitally, it never seems unlikely or implausible. And the ending, which ingeniusly ties in with almost everything that has gone before it, is unforgettable.
Make sure this masterpiece doesn't carry on going unnoticed.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
I liked this film because it left me surprised - and very few films do that, you usually always know whats going to happen - you don't with this film.
Exceptional acting and superb direction, this film is stimulating and dark - an excellent film with a diverse ending
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
A very enjoyable film, superbly acted by all and very gripping. However the outcome is hard to believe, the plot relies on everything working to perfection. Are they seriously expecting us to believe that the terrorists can control Faraday in such a pin point degree of accuracy? For their plot to work, Faraday has to do things that probably is a 1 in 10 chance at most. Highly unbelievable but still a very gripping and enjoyable film, just dont take it too seriously.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Unusual movie from Hollywood
What is unusual in this movie is twofold: the view on terrorism (note the movie was years before the 9-11 tragedy) and the ending. Read more
Published 21 days ago by F. Panin
Very very goooood!
Not really sure how to describe it but the reviews always tell the story, the storyline is not the way i expected it to be! suprisingly alot better! Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr. C. J. Davies
Entertaining, despite being a little bit silly
The film is a variant on the old "paranoia thriller" template - a mysterious neighbour moves in, there's something sinister lurking behind the faux friendliness, Jeff Bridges is... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mr. S. A. Brown
Difficult not to give out spoilers.
I think it difficult not to give out spoiles as to why I found 'Arlington Road' a rather disturbing picture. On the surface, AR tells the story of neighbours getting aquainted. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Bart
Not quite believable
Michael Faraday (Jeff Bridges) lectures on terrorism. When he saves the life of Oliver Lang's (Tim Robbins) child, a friendship is formed between the two men. Read more
Published on 11 Mar 2010 by Alex da Silva
I must have missed something
OK, so a professor specialising (sorry, specializing)in terrorism perchance lives opposite some terrorists. Well, thats convenient. And it all gets even more convenient. Read more
Published on 4 Jan 2009 by Peter Keeping
terrifying
After so much tragedy that has happened in america and all over the world in the last few years this film holds an eerie and frightening similarity to events which have taken... Read more
Published on 20 Oct 2008 by Ms. F. I. Macdonald
Reasonable....
3 Stars for this movie.
I purchased this a long time ago, watched it once and shoved it to the back of the cabinet, where it lurked unwatched. Read more
I purchased this a long time ago, watched it once and shoved it to the back of the cabinet, where it lurked unwatched. Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2008 by Mr. J. Young
Realistic and Shocking!
This is a movie that I think everyone should watch. We watched it some years ago and several times since. Everytime, it is impactful. Read more
Published on 7 Nov 2007 by Laura Knight-Jadczyk
Realistic and Shocking!
This is a movie that I think everyone should watch. We watched it some years ago and several times since. Everytime, it is impactful. Read more
Published on 7 Nov 2007 by Laura Knight-Jadczyk
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