It's
been a long road getting this political thriller to the big screen. The film has
been bumped from one release date to the next and after finally viewing it, I
can see why--it's one tough film to market. The coming attraction suggests that
the film is as explosive commercial action movie (i.e. Jeff Bridges in Blown Away),
but it isnÕt that at all. In fact, Arlington Road is a character study
about the effects of paranoia and for the most part, it was quite restrained and
very unpredictable.
Jeff
Bridges is Michael, a teacher of American Terrorism who finds himself put to the
test when he discovers that his neighbor Oliver (played by Tim Robbins) might
be involved in terrorist activity.
Director
Mark Pellington (Going All The Way, Pearl Jam's Jeremy video) isn't interested
in hardware, he's more interested in characters. He tells the story through Michael's
perspective and has a flair for putting the audience in the character's shoes.
Many of the film's scenes have a frantic nightmarish quality that heighten the
intensity of the film.
Robbins
is quite creepy, as is Joan Cusack as his wife, but the story isn't really about
him, making it more difficult to see what makes him tick. The driving force is
Bridges. He's an absolutely mesmerizing screen presence and brings a genuine vulnerability
to a paranoid man who wants a normal life for his family.
Arlington
Road works better than commercial films like Blown Away because it concentrates
on characters instead of huge explosions. It's an interesting, yet disturbing
film that shows us that paranoia is the real enemy.
