The Road Less Taken

Arlington Road Dir: Mark Pellington Starring Jeff Bridges Tim Robbins Joan Cusack 1999 R, 117 m RATING: 7 out of 10

YOUR FRIEND AND NEIGHBORS: Jeff Bridges shares an evening of banality with Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack in this nerve-shredding flick.

From it's tense, nail-biting opening scene to it's grisly anti-Hollywood ending, Arlington Road is a thriller that's made a plan to plat paranonia its the audience and suck its collective breath out, and boy, does it succeed. This gem of a thriller stars Jeff Bridges as a professor teaching a history of terrorism course who discovers his seemingly wholesome neighbors Joan Cusack and Tim Robbins are hiding something about Robbin's ast.  Think American Beauty played for thrills rather than drama.  As Bridges goes to his neighbors' home for cookouts, dinner, and just to visit, he slowly brings to light the shadiness of who Robbins used to be. Bridges gives a convincing performance as the obsessed professor bent on learning the truth about his neighbors and even comes off as much more intruding and unlikeable in some scenes.  Of course, this is Robin's and Cusack's movie, and they are obviously having fun as the devious, scheming couple.  All Cusck need do is smile and we sense she is holding up a facade of cheerines  My only complaint is that Robbins could have had a few more scnee where we feel compassion for his character: by the end, we just want to see him die.  Also a few more inspired, sick lines would have made Robbin's near perfect. While Arlinton Road may be a conventional, even predictable and cliched film at some points, it's lifted thanks to a frantic score by the always great Angelo Badalemnti and equally frenetic camerawork.  The ending is so unseen and downbeat that it makes on cringe.   And thought there may be some moments of implausibilty, weren't there many more in films such as Speed that are no brainer fun?

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