Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington are an interracial couple who move into a rich neighborhood where Samuel L. Jackson has pretty much proclaimed himself caretaker. Jackson is an LAPD officer who likes to take the law into his own hands. Oh and did I mention that he’s a racist? He is obviously sickened by a black woman being married to a white man. He is also a very strict parent since his wife was killed 3 years prior and he became sole guardian of his two kids. Jackson tries his hardest to get the new neighbors to leave his ‘hood. The movie provides the audience with a lot of suspenseful moments. It’s no guessing game. You know its Samuel L. tormenting these people throughout the story but you get to see how much they can take before they snap and how long before they seek some vengeance. It’s a very entertaining movie and I was pleasantly surprised.
Jackson is his typical badass character. He doesn’t take any shit from anyone and he abuses the fact that he’s a police officer. He makes this couple’s life a living hell and enjoys every minute of it. Wilson is a guy who is laid back and not used to confrontation. At first he doesn’t really fight back or argue with Jackson. Security lights shine into their bedroom, Jackson makes constant racial remarks, and even a late night bachelor party where Wilson gets harassed isn’t enough for him to snap. But eventually he just can’t stand it anymore. Of course this drives Jackson even further and in the final ploy to get them to move out he goes a tad bit over the line and has to cover his tracks.
The premise of the movie is simple, Neighbors Fighting. But I was happy to see they really kept the suspense built up and the plot interesting. The racial spin was the opposite of what you normally see in a movie. You see Jackson as a black man prejudice towards an interracial couple. He’s a man who has no trust and wants everyone to be as miserable as he is. He’s a smart ass and a bad ass. We all know he can pull that off to perfection and in this case he carries the movie. So for a flick that doesn’t get too deep, it’s a good one.
IMDB – 6.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes – 42%
Movie Wiseguys – 6.5/10