Lakeview Terrace Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Lakeview Terrace Blu-ray Movie Review

Can a single actor make an entire film worth watching?

Samuel L. Jackson is quite possibly the biggest, baddest... well, I'll leave that little blank for you to fill in and just go with... actor working in Hollywood today. Who else could have left fans in a tizzy with something as simple as a one-minute, post-film Iron Man cameo? What other leading man could have single-handedly sold so many tickets for a flick called Snakes on a Plane? For that matter, name one person who's ever managed to bend George Lucas to their will. Make no doubt about it, Jackson is an unhinged force of nature; an actor whose intense and commanding delivery elevates even the worst film to something worth sampling.

When I first saw the theatrical trailer for Lakeview Terrace, I wasn't sure what to think. The film itself looked like a predictable, cliche-ridden mess... but it happened to feature the inspired powerhouse-pairing of Jackson (in full Pulp Fiction fervor) and Hard Candy's Patrick Wilson. So what led me to fork over nine bucks at the box office when its release eventually rolled around? My favorite BMF, of course.

Lakeview Terrace tells the somewhat unsettling tale of a newlywed couple, Chris and Lisa Mattson (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington), who move into a beautiful house in California only to realize their neighbor, an edgy LAPD officer named Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson), has set his sights on running them out of town. It seems Abel disapproves of their relationship and has no problem expressing his distaste for their very existence. As his harassment escalates with each passing day, the Mattsons finally decide to start pushing back. Unfortunately for them, Abel's connections in the police department, his foothold in the neighborhood, and his adherence to the technical letter of the law makes him a nearly unstoppable adversary.

Let me get this out of the way right up front: without Samuel L. Jackson, Lakeview Terrace would be yet another genre clone content on retreading very familiar ground. Sure, Wilson and Washington imbue their characters with stark realism and genuine affability -- their casting is nothing short of a masterstroke for director Neil LaBute (Nurse Betty and the god-awful 2006 Wicker Man remake), a filmmaker who brings little to the project other than an apparent ability to attract talent -- but the script itself doesn't give them any meaty scenes to chew on.

But Jackson... Jackson could read Volume XIII of the encyclopedia and plausibly intimidate whoever was on set at the time. He sinks so much raw emotion and rage into his portrayal of Abel that any line, no matter how bland, sounds as if it's bubbling out of the mouth of a vengeful demigod. He doesn't just steal each scene, he inhabits his character and makes the man's every action affect everything in his path. Whether Abel is on camera or being discussed, Jackson manages to generate every ounce of tension in the film, hold sway over every character who utters his name, and establish himself as the sole antagonist of the story. In short, Lakeview Terrace is an average movie with a performance that simply shouldn't be missed.

Ultimately, anyone sitting down to watch the once and future Mace Windu storm across the screen will be confronted with an age-old cinematic conundrum: can a film be great if a single performance is the only thing that makes it worth watching? My answer? Lakeview Terrace is a perfect rental. It's good enough to justify setting aside two hours of your life, it boasts Jackson in rare form, and will probably even get your blood racing a bit by the time the third act begins to approach its inevitable conclusion. I'm sure some will love it because of Jackson's performance and others will hate it because there isn't much else... but I had fun while it lasted and, really, should a filmfan always ask for much more?

Lakeview Terrace Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Lakeview Terrace features an at-times stunning 1080p AVC-encoded transfer that renders its darkest nighttime interiors as proficiently as its brightest daytime exteriors. First and foremost, the film's fine detailing has been exquisitely rendered in almost every frame. Textures are crisp and realistic, the smallest on-screen text is legible, and drops of sweat, facial pores, and individual pieces of stubble are exceedingly well-defined. A handful of soft shots are sprinkled throughout the presentation, but it seems each is a product of the original print rather than a technical mishap. Better still, primaries are bold (particularly reds and blues), skintones are convincing and nicely-saturated, and the deepest blacks are perfectly resolved and inky. Contrast is overpowering at times, but only when LaBute relies on harsh sunlight to make encounters between Wilson and Jackson feel all the more uncomfortable. In fact, I was often struck by how naturally the film's heaviest shadows enveloped background objects and casually spilled into the foreground. Best of all, I detect any substantial artifacting, grain inconsistencies, or banding. While a few nighttime sequences had some brief instances of crushing and digital noise, it was never enough to detract from the overall experience.

Sony continues to forego pesky post-processing nonsense like picture-stifling DNR and the filmic qualities of this transfer are on full display. Some edge enhancement appears in several long distance shots, but it's rarely a distraction. All in all, Lakeview Terrace may not be a flawless, reference-level standout, but it comes extremely close. It certainly outclasses the film's standard DVD, stacks up well against other BD releases, and will make fans more than ecstatic when they see how good it looks in high definition.

Lakeview Terrace Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track included on this release may not leave as lasting an impression as its video transfer, but it effortlessly replicates the film's occasionally front-heavy sound design and even packs a few sonic surprises. Dialogue is mainly situated in the center channel, but it remains crisp and perfectly prioritized from beginning to end. Pans are swift and transparent (especially across the unexpectedly lively rear soundstage) and directionality precisely places droning insects and screeching cars exactly where they belong. Gunfire and abrupt sound effects are limited to a handful of more intense scenes, but weighty LFE support and strong dynamics allow them to effectively pierce the soundscape. Likewise, the rear speakers are generally relegated to enhancing the track's ambient atmosphere and acoustic believability, but they create an immersive soundfield that nearly drops the Californian suburbs into your home theater.

Dialogue was a bit spotty compared to most recent releases -- quieter lines were sometimes lost in the on-screen madness -- but, for the most part, it was intelligible and neatly prioritized. As it stands, Lakeview Terrace isn't packed with car chases, explosions, or blazing double-barreled shotguns. Instead, it offers a meticulously designed mix whose sole goal is to draw you into the film and make you forget you're watching a movie. In that regard, it does a fantastic job.

Lakeview Terrace Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Blu-ray edition of Lakeview Terrace isn't blessed with endless supplemental material, but it at least includes all of the special features that appear on the film's DVD release and presents most of the video content in high definition.

• Audio Commentary: Director Neil LaBute and actress Kerry Washington sit down for a focused chat about the script, the casting process, the production, and the film's eventual reception. While Washington's presence mainly serves to remind listeners that Jackson and Wilson are nowhere to be found, LaBute keeps things interesting and informative, revealing almost anything fans would want to know about the film and its development.
• Production Featurettes (HD, 19 minutes): A trio of truncated mini-docs dig into LaBute's Casting choices, The Story, and the overall Production. Superficial and short, you won't find any mind-blowing revelations or amusing anecdotes here.
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 14 minutes): This collection of eight scenes with optional director's commentary is decent, but doesn't inject much into the story that wasn't already covered in the final cut of the film.
• BD-Live Functionality

Lakeview Terrace Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Were it not for Jackson's seething, scene-stealing performance, Lakeview Terrace would simply be a familiar thriller that fails to reinvent its genre or produce any truly memorable moments. Thankfully, Sony has put together a technically impressive Blu-ray release that features a striking video transfer and an impressive TrueHD audio track. Regardless of how you feel about the film itself, there's no denying this disc throughly trounces its standard DVD counterpart. There may not be many supplemental goodies to speak of, but fans will most likely have an easy time sliding their hard-earned cash across the counter.