Very intense movie with one of the best endings ever. The actors (Brideges, Robbins) are just great here. Very underrated movie. A+

Unsettling movie with lots of twists and turns, good suspense, and a shocking ending. Joan Cusack who is usually a hoot is extremely creepy in this movie. I grade it a B+.

I love this movie!!!



this could quite possibly be the best film of the year, 14 August 1999



*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Warning: Does contain spoilers.

The first thing I would like to say is, to all the people that criticize this movie for " just happens to have terrorist neighbours move in across from him" or " they could never possibly know where he was at all times", then first of all pay close attention to this review and secondly, like Angel Heart and The Sixth Sense, this is a film that needs and deserves a second viewing. More on that in a moment.

Arlington Road is one of the best films that I have seen this year. It is very tense, very well thought out, and it has a point that it wants us to recognize. I have never heard of Mark Pellington before this film but I really think he will be a great director in Hollywood after this picture, whether it does well at the box office or not. What you can't deny is that this man can direct a film. I am actually inclined to say that this film was a personal story to him because he puts that much care into every last detail. I believe that he and the writer ( Kruger ) have major issues here and they convey a certain frustration and paranoia in the film that cannot be ignored.

There are three parts of the film that must be mentioned. Because I don't think I have ever felt quite as emotionally drained as watching these particular scenes. The first is the opening. Here we have Jeff Bridges driving home and he sees a kid that has his hand covered in blood. But a lot of this is done through the kids eyes. He is wandering aimlessly down the street and the camera becomes his mind. It is blurry, hazy and confused. And that is a perfect note for how the kid and then Bridges must be feeling at that exact moment. Brilliant. The second is when Bridge's wife and the rest of her FBI team is on a small farm property. They are there to arrest a man under false pretenses that he has broken some laws. And what ensues is a battle between the FBI and some people that are exercising their right to own a gun and protect their property. Again, tension and heart wrenching emotion are what you are left with. Brilliant. The third has to be the very end. This is an ending that you just don't see coming. And when Bridges is in that underground parking and he finally realizes what is happening, we see it in his eyes. We figure it out when he figures it out, and then the final few images of the film had me horrified. And the theater that I was in became silent. If you haven't seen this film you can't possibly know exactly what it is that I am trying to say here, because words can't do justice to what this film makes you feel. They really can't.

Arlington Road is one of the smartest films that I have ever seen. It has so much to say and it asks us to open our eyes and look at things a little more closely than what we have been doing. The director and writer have taken care of that. But to pull this off you had to have two actors that could convey the emotions so well that you felt that you knew them when you left the theater. And Jeff Bridges and Tim Robbins are perfect. Robbins is quiet but deadly and he is purposely catatonic like in the film because that is what a terrorist living in suburbia America is going to be like. The smart and well organized ones aren't going to have Nazi flags hanging outside their door, they are going to be John and Sally Smith down the street. And there is one absolutely perfect line in here that is the epitome of terrorism and the disbelief that they could be so close to your home. Bridges girlfriend says to him, " Terrorists? Living across the street from us? Right! " And that is the beauty of it. Terrorists have to live next door to someone, it could be you and you would never know it. Jeff Bridges is also perfect because he is a manically obsessed guy in this film. He is so in tune with terrorism and he cares about his country so much that he does become a little strung out. That is not over acting, it is an honest portrayal of a man that knows too much and can not get anyone to believe him. That sounds a little like Hitchcock to me. I also have to mention Joan Cusack because she is absolutely terrifying here. She is a microcosm of American apple pie. She is sweet and lovely and always smiling, but she is just as sick and devoted to her cause as her husband is, and that makes her spooky. She is a great actress and she plays her part perfectly here.

Arlington Road raises many issues and asks us to open our eyes just a little and question the conclusions that official boards come up with. After all, The Warren Report is now considered to be more of a comic strip than a credible piece of official documentation. So maybe we should all question other reports that say one man blew up whatever building he happens to blow up. This movie is brilliant, perfect and important and anyone who truly appreciates great film making should really check this out. I really think Mark Pellington should get an Oscar nomination for his efforts here. He is that good.

**** One final note. To everyone who thinks that things in this movie were too coincidental for it to be happening (terrorists move across the street from a university professor that teaches US Terrorism, knowing where he was going to be at all times to become the bait that he was ) then just try to watch the film again. Bridges was followed all the time, that is why the girl in his class says the things that she does about him at the end, and Robbins and his network set him up from day one. That is discovered when in one of the last shots of the film you see Robbins burning pictures and disks and files on Michael Farraday. They did their homework and he became thier next unlucky patsy. That sort of criticism is unwarranted and a second viewing of the film should be witnessed, maybe you'll understand it a bit better

I loved this movie. It has probably the greatest ending ever to a movie. Amazing to watch!

9.6/10

I pretty much agree with everything in this review.

And what a great opening sequence!

Fantastic movie. Great performances, great plot, and one hell of an ending. A-

Amazing Movie. I did not see the ending coming at all, and it was brilliant. Intense and lively. A

A Poll please..

Great film; perhaps one of the best thrillers ever with a fantastic ending to boot.

This was very unsettling and disturbing. B+

Great movie, really really interesting and shocking to watch. A+ One of the best thrillers of all time.

The ending of this movie made no sense whatsoever.