Lakeview Terrace

Samuel L. Jackson and Neil LaBute Team Up for This Thriller in the Vein of "Unlawful Entry"

Now here's something we haven't seen in awhile, a thriller with the "Fatal Attraction" like formula. "Fatal Attraction" was one of the biggest hits of the 1980's which showed Michael Douglas having an affair with Glenn Close (I still can't figure out why he would cheat on Anne Archer) which he later tries to break off, but Glenn is obsessed with seeing this as more than a one night stand. She ends up going ballistic as she infiltrates Michael's life and almost completely destroys it. Like "Die Hard," "Fatal Attraction" became a formula of choice for many movies to emulate, and it was a formula that audiences could not get enough of. It more or less brought about movies like "Single White Female" (which will forever put you off of getting a stranger as a roommate), "The Crush" (a crappy and idiotic movie whose only asset is Alicia Silverstone's pre-vegan hot bod), and "Unlawful Entry" with Ray Liotta, Kurt Russell, and Madeline Stowe. That one was the gender reversal of "Fatal Attraction."

Soon, that formula was exploited for all it was worth, and we haven't seen that formula much since the late 80's or early 90's. The only other one I can think of was "Swimfan" (which I have not seen but looks like crap) with Erika Christensen and Jesse Bradford who has a fling with Erika's character, and you know the rest. Now we have "Lakeview Terrace" which is kind of a combination between "Unlawful Entry" and "Pacific Heights" with a tiny bit of "Training Day" put in. The movie is indeed formulaic, but it's also a lot better than I expected it to be. This is probably because both writer David Loughery and director Neil LaBute take more chances and are not afraid of taking of getting under your skin with touchy topics like racism and interracial marriage.