Arlington Road
"Arlington Road", (1999) with Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack, Hope Davis and Robert Gossett. Written by Ehren Kruger, directed by Mark Pellington. MPAA Rating R for violence and language, run time 115 minutes.
I don't know about you, but for me, moovies represent a real event - an opportunity to crawl out of my own life for a couple of hours and just disappear. From the very beginning of the totally mesmerizing opening credits of "Arlington Road" until the house lights came back up at the end, I couldn't have told you what city I was in. I was too busy, too wrapped up in someone else's life to know or care.
Michael Faraday (Jeff Bridges) lives in the quiet D.C.suburbs of Virginia with his son Grant. His wife, an FBI agent, had been killed several years before in the line of duty in a Ruby Ridge style shootout. A college history professor, Faraday has never come to terms with his wife's death, and his classes are mini-epics on the subjects of conspiracy theory, domestic terrorism, and government cover-up.
It's a darned good thing he's cultivated his naturally suspicious mind, because when he meets his normal as Jeep Cherokee neighbors, the Langs, Oliver and Cheryl, (Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack) and catches Oliver in a couple of seemingly petty lies, he immediately begins to suspect Oliver is up to no good. Farady then launches a witch-hunt worthy of Big Joe McCarthy, digging into Lang's past with dogged determination and a healthy disregard for personal privacy and the law. What he finds is a trail of changed identities, dead ends and a few pretty stinky red herrings.
You're never too sure whether Farady has uncovered a horrific domestic terrorist plot, or if he's just lost the lease on his sanity, and is having a going out his mind sale.
Tim Robbins is the standard issue suburban neighbor. Absolutely respectable, with just a slight "Body Snatcher's" undertone of creepy weirdness. Just like real neighbors. You'll find yourself wondering, after all is said and done, exactly who are these people living in your neighborhood, and what exactly do you REALLY know about them?
That's all you get on this one. If I gave the rest away, you'd hate me, and I'd hate myself for doing it. This a moovie that deserves to be watched, absorbed, and in that peculiarly detached way that really good moovies empower in us, participated in.
This is the real strength of this moovie - the ability to draw you closer and closer - to let you identify with any number of the characters as well as their fears. Then. when you're all ready for a neat Hollywood ending, YOU DON'T GET ONE. It's well-done film making that will keep you on edge and then slam you right back into your seat. This makes Bud happy.
I gave Arlington Road three cows. Go see for yourself.
I don't know about you, but for me, moovies represent a real event - an opportunity to crawl out of my own life for a couple of hours and just disappear. From the very beginning of the totally mesmerizing opening credits of "Arlington Road" until the house lights came back up at the end, I couldn't have told you what city I was in. I was too busy, too wrapped up in someone else's life to know or care.
Michael Faraday (Jeff Bridges) lives in the quiet D.C.suburbs of Virginia with his son Grant. His wife, an FBI agent, had been killed several years before in the line of duty in a Ruby Ridge style shootout. A college history professor, Faraday has never come to terms with his wife's death, and his classes are mini-epics on the subjects of conspiracy theory, domestic terrorism, and government cover-up.
It's a darned good thing he's cultivated his naturally suspicious mind, because when he meets his normal as Jeep Cherokee neighbors, the Langs, Oliver and Cheryl, (Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack) and catches Oliver in a couple of seemingly petty lies, he immediately begins to suspect Oliver is up to no good. Farady then launches a witch-hunt worthy of Big Joe McCarthy, digging into Lang's past with dogged determination and a healthy disregard for personal privacy and the law. What he finds is a trail of changed identities, dead ends and a few pretty stinky red herrings.
You're never too sure whether Farady has uncovered a horrific domestic terrorist plot, or if he's just lost the lease on his sanity, and is having a going out his mind sale.
Tim Robbins is the standard issue suburban neighbor. Absolutely respectable, with just a slight "Body Snatcher's" undertone of creepy weirdness. Just like real neighbors. You'll find yourself wondering, after all is said and done, exactly who are these people living in your neighborhood, and what exactly do you REALLY know about them?
That's all you get on this one. If I gave the rest away, you'd hate me, and I'd hate myself for doing it. This a moovie that deserves to be watched, absorbed, and in that peculiarly detached way that really good moovies empower in us, participated in.
This is the real strength of this moovie - the ability to draw you closer and closer - to let you identify with any number of the characters as well as their fears. Then. when you're all ready for a neat Hollywood ending, YOU DON'T GET ONE. It's well-done film making that will keep you on edge and then slam you right back into your seat. This makes Bud happy.
I gave Arlington Road three cows. Go see for yourself.