Lakeview Terrace

2008
PG-13
1h 50m

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

57K

YOUR RATING

Samuel L. Jackson in Lakeview Terrace (2008)

Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Wilson, and Kerry Washington star in Neil LaBute's thriller, Lakeview Terrace.

Play trailer2:32

7 Videos

99+ Photos

Crime Drama Thriller

A troubled and racist African-American L.A.P.D. Officer will stop at nothing to force out a friendly interracial couple who just moved in next door to him.A troubled and racist African-American L.A.P.D. Officer will stop at nothing to force out a friendly interracial couple who just moved in next door to him.A troubled and racist African-American L.A.P.D. Officer will stop at nothing to force out a friendly interracial couple who just moved in next door to him.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

57K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination total

Videos7

Trailer 2:32

Lakeview Terrace: Theatrical Trailer

Clip 1:12

Lakeview Terrace: Is That The Prius?

Clip 1:12

Lakeview Terrace: Is That The Prius?

Clip 0:54

Lakeview Terrace: Roll The Window Down

Clip 0:58

Lakeview Terrace: That Is Not Ok

Clip 1:06

Lakeview Terrace: Back Off

Featurette 3:50

Lakeview Terrace: Featurette

Photos105

+ 99

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The plot for this movie is loosely based on real-life events that happened in Altadena, California, involving an interracial couple and an African-American Los Angeles Police Officer.

Goofs
Abel Turner has a goatee in every shot, including on duty. LAPD grooming standards prohibit beards and goatees while on duty.

Quotes
Chris Mattson: Y'know what, Abel? Fuck you.
Abel Turner: [laughs] Is that a 'We Are the World' 'fuck you'?
Chris Mattson: No. It's a special one. Just for you.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Burn After Reading/Traitor/College/Babylon A.D./Hamlet 2 (2008)

Soundtracks
Shoot Me Down
Written by Peter Carr, Kevin Chase, Shahzad Mahmood, Christian Peck
Performed by Boy Kill Boy
Courtesy of Mercury Records Limited
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User reviews162

Review

Featured review

8/10

Outstanding addition to the psycho-thriller genre

A very well made psycho-thriller that stands at the top of a sub-genre kick-started by Adrian Lyne's FATAL ATTRACTION in 1987. LAKEVIEW TERRACE features Samuel L. Jackson in riveting form as the main antagonist, a character who's not only the neighbour-from-hell but a cop-from-hell too (imagine this guy on the beat with Ray Liotta's character from UNLAWFUL ENTRY!). LAKEVIEW TERRACE sidesteps cliché throughout – arguably until the climax, anyway – and delivers plenty of suspense and thrills in its story of a racist-with-a-twist – this time it's Jackson who's the racist, a guy who hates whites.

Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington are somewhat bland modern actors, but the quality of the scripts drives them to give fairly good turns here. The film belongs to Jackson in the end, though, and he keeps us watching through thick and thin. Realism is often swept aside in these types of production (I'm thinking of you, PACIFIC HEIGHTS) but not so here. Neil LaBute has made some awful films (in fact his one before this was the dire Nicolas Cage remake THE WICKER MAN) but Lakeview Terrace is an unexpected delight – a high-calibre piece of professional filmmaking that never disappoints.