OK in fairness I have never lived next to a member of law enforcement. I have had my brushes with law enforcement as most average people will have done. Some good experiences some indifferent. One such instance, where off duty cops visited my parents home and used their uniforms to intimidate my parents sticks in my mind. Abel Turner brings back those memories of being helpless against those that are meant to help us, the public.
So with that in mind I should have enjoyed this movie by cheering on Chris and Lisa against Abel. But I didn't. I had no warmth for our 'victims'. They themselves were imperfect characters. Where was the love ? Lisa hiding her pregnancy from Chris. Chris hiding his nicotine fix from Lisa. There was far too much superficial gloss to this film. The racist issues were also daubed onto the palate of the film in big heavy lumps by the director, Neil Labute. There is nothing subtle about this film.
Are there plus points to this film ? In my view they are limited. Labute keeps the tension going well at the start of the film as Abel cranks up the anti against his mixed race neighbours which pays off well as Chris and Lisa, having had their tyres slashed are greeted with the message 'You're lucky to have a cop live next door.' But Labute kills his highs with too many lows. Abel is just a racist bigot and overbearing authoritarian. End of, really. But Labute juggles with too many story threads to keep the real tension running at a high level. Maybe there is more of the film's real structure in the editing suite. But at 110 minutes in length this film is hardly lean. Labute should have done his trimming before starting to film this disappointment.
5/10, which is a shame as I was really looking forward to this.
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