Rating: 
Summary: Not very uplifting, but what the heck . . .
Review: Yeah, the movie is VERY depressing, so if you're one of those "Must Have a Happy Movie" people, stear way clear of this. But I'm not one of those people. I loved this movie. All too often, Hollywood scripts fall into the trap of becoming predicatable and repetituous. I didn't see this ending coming until it happened. Jeff Bridges and Tim Robbins both turn in great performances, and if Robbins' portrayal of the guy next door doesn't have you looking funny at your next-door neigbor, well, maybe you should . . .
Rating:
Summary: How Much Do You Really Know....
Review: "Arlington Road" plays out a suspensfull tale that turns to a chilling conclusion. Most of the content...especially towards the end, makes you wonder if you are always getting the entire story of events that happen in our society. Jeff Bridges is excellent as an intelligent, slightly edgy college proffessor who uses his courses on terrorism to try and fill the gap made when his FBI wife is carelessly killed on the job. To tell the truth, I was only drawn to this movie the first time because Joan Cusack is my favorite screen performer...but once I saw it I was blown away. The cast and small supporting cast is equally well done, and Angelo Badalamenti's music composition fits perfectly with every tension-riddled twist and turn. One thing I should say to first time viewers is; dont spend the entire time watching the movie asking how things could possibly happen in this scenerio. The story seems frighteningly realistic, and there are no aliens or incredible special effects needed to keep you on the edge of your seat...particularly towards the end. I dont think this is a movie, I thinks its a lesson in life.
Rating: 
Summary: Believable and Awesome
Review: The acting in this film was first rate, natural and believable. As a college professor myself, I bought the character played by Jeff Bridges, whereas in most other movies the actors who portray intellectuals come across just pathetic. I bought Tim Robbins' character, too. The ending of this film is the major element that sets it apart from the happy-go-lucky standard Hollywood servings. I did not buy the FBI character, the partner of Bridges' slain wife, he comes across as a stereotype. I recommend this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Not Another Arnold Schwart....
Review: Finally there is an action/thriller type movie where the plot does not depend on a machine gun to do all the talking. This movie has an original and intelligent plot, and has a great cast. It is a very dark movie, and in the end leaves an almost depressing and hopeless feel to it, but the message that it leaves is very true and very real. The plot is full of twists and turns, all unexpected, and Tim Robbins exucutes the role of a truely twisted character very well. Although this is a great movie, i can see how some who like to feel that everything is alright, and like to feel a sense of closuer do not like this movie, however it is a great movie if you can take it.
Rating: 
Summary: brilliant ending???!!?
Review: well, i found Arlington Road a good suspense film,but i have to say that the ending was way too disturbing for me.It was so unfair what happenned to Michael Faraday(Jeff Bridges).It was like a punch on my stomach...It wasn't necessary a happy ending there are lots of films whose endings are not happy but they're great. Now this ending really made me upset...
Rating:
Summary: Packs a punch of twists and power!
Review: "Arlington Road" is a large breath of fresh air for the suspense genre, giving new life to the meaning of the word "originality." It's full of splendid ideas and plot twists, it has an ensemble of characters that we care about and watch, and it has one of the best and most satisfying movie endings I've ever seen on film. It's a story of one man's battle against his not-so-nice neighbors while also being a personal battle as he sinks into the depths of paranoia and uncertainty. Right from the beginning, the movie begins packing in the chills. A small boy is walking down the center of a road with his hand severely bloodied and scorched, when he is snatched up by Michael Faraday, a resident of Arlington Road, and rushed off to the emergency room. The scene as a whole is charged with a unique blend of close-ups and unsettling bass impacts from the soundtrack which will set the tone for the rest of the movie. Faraday soon meets the boy's parents at the hospital, Oliver and Cheryl Lang, and converses with them about their son before returning to his home, where he confides to his girlfriend Brooke that he felt bad for not knowing the boy's name. As the movie progresses, it takes its time in revealing the climax that is to come. We learn that Faraday is a college professor who teaches a class on terrorism in America. He once was married to an FBI agent who was killed in a massacre of right wing activists in the woods. His memories haunt him at certain moments in the film, but instead of dragging it out, these memories serve as the reason for which Faraday becomes so wrapped up in the true history and character of his neighbors, the Langs. A mysterious letter addressed to someone of a different name also has Oliver's name on it, which leads Faraday to discover some secret blueprints when he returns the letter to his neighbor. He begins to become more uncertain and uncomfortable with the situation, and dives into a discreet investigation of Lang's past, discovering that he changed his name numerous times, and that he was once arrested for constructing pipe bombs on his father's farm. Whlie this heavily raises his suspicions of Oliver, Oliver is able to calm Faraday's notion that he is dangerous, and sets his mind at ease with an explanation of morality for his change of name. It is at this point that the film picks up to an incredible pace, but to tell you anymore would ruin the many surprises it has to offer. Brooke begins to realize that Michael may be right in his suspicions, which leads her into danger. Faraday is given the ultimate ultimatum by Oliver, who, by this point in the movie, has every aspect of his neighbor's life bugged and tapped. He is keeping close dibs on Faraday, and it is evident by this time that Faraday is not paranoid. What he knows can destroy his life, but he is about to become someone who will be remembered on a much grander scale, and in the ending, he will serve as a model for his own teachings and opinions. Throughout the whole movie, there is never a moment where we are not involved in some sort of race against time, in which Faraday must try to bring his criminal neighbors out into the open for the world to see. This allows for a highly introspective look at Faraday, who is seen as becoming obsessed with his notions and discoveries. The people in his life, his close friends and family, do not believe him when he tries to disclose his findings, so this leaves the intensity up to actor Jeff Bridges, who carries it on his shoulders with a stunning ability all his own. The story as a whole is highly original and complex, involving and impacting. It's really two stories rolled into one: one is the struggle of a man to stop a deadly event from happening, and another is the struggle of the same man to deal with what he finds out and make sure that he is correct and not passing false judgement. The second story works out because actor Tim Robbins and actress Joan Cusack are able to make the audience as well as Faraday believe that they are not what he accuses them of being. They play out the actions and manipulations perfectly, and even when we realize they have a dark and frightening side, they carry it off so well. With every other thriller basing its story on old ideas and scripts, "Arlington Road" is a hostile and inviting film that breaks free of the moorings of simplicity and chooses to give us a movie that keeps us in suspense until the gut-punch ending, which will leave you absolutely breathless. We care for the characters, we enjoy the story, and we get a terrifically twisted look at the lives of those who are not what they appear to be on the outside.
Rating:
Summary: Formulaic, and plot holes you can throw a cat through.
Review: The most enjoyable thing about "Arlington Road" is keeping a running count of (A) the directorial cliches it employs, and (B) the numerous plot holes that not only strain credulity, but rip it into tiny pieces and flush it right down the toilet. Let's just say both are in the double digits, most coming in the last 20 minutes of the film. The basic idea here is great: the mild-mannered terrorist next door. But getting from there to the film's preposterous ending in one believable piece is something these writers were simply not capable of, even if the actors were.
Rating:
Summary: James Berardinelli
Review: There's no doubt that the subject matter tackled by Arlington Road is topical. Terrorism at home is a very real danger in this current climate of world uncertainty, and, arguably, a greater danger is posed to U.S. security by radical political groups within this country than by outside forces. By borrowing heavily from the images and events surrounding the Oklahoma City tragedy, Arlington Road postulates that there might be a huge underground conspiracy driving this sort of activity, and, if it isn't stopped, history will repeat itself. As long as there's a patsy to take the fall, there's no motivation to dig deeper. Director Mark Pellington's problem isn't the premise, it's Ehren Kruger's script. Arlington Road is a badly constructed motion picture. The screenplay stretches the viewer's credulity far beyond the breaking point, asking us to accept dozens of absurd contrivances and coincidences. The more you think about it, the less sense Arlington Road makes. Added to that, Pellington (who made his feature debut with 1997's Going All the Way) has chosen to develop his film like a standard psycho-thriller, adhering to all of the connect-the-dots formulas of the genre. We have the unsuspecting hero, the seemingly kind neighbors with a dark secret, and the escalation of evidence that no one but the protagonist believes. Pellington's approach has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Yet, despite the plodding, predictable way in which the plot develops, Arlington Road is not without a kernel of originality. The ending, which is by far the most noteworthy aspect of the entire picture, defies expectations and accomplishes the difficult task of surprising the viewer. In a better movie, the film's ultimate twist might have been labeled as "brilliant." Here, it's merely clever, and not good enough to redeem the 100 minutes of recycled garbage that precedes it. A finale like this deserves a stronger story. Arlington Road introduces us to Professor Michael Faraday (Jeff Bridges), who, along with his young son, Grant (Spencer Treat Clark), and his girlfriend, Brooke (Hope Davis), lives a quiet life in suburban Northern Virginia. Although he seems normal and well adjusted, Michael is having trouble coping with the recent death of his wife, an FBI agent who was killed in the line-of-duty during a botched anti-terrorism operation. A part of him still blames the agency and his wife's former partner, Whit Carver (Robert Gossett). Enter the new neighbors: Oliver and Cheryl Lang (Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack), a wholesome couple who espouse family values. They have a son Grant's age, and, after Michael saves the boy's life following a fireworks accident, Oliver and Cheryl are in his debt. Michael begins to see more of them, but he is prone to paranoia, and, when a few facts about his new friends don't check out, he suspects that Oliver is up to no good. A wild leap of intuition leads him to believe that he may have discovered the tip of a terrorism iceberg. In addition to a haphazard script and over-the-top direction, Arlington Road is marred by another significant error: the miscasting of one key role. As Michael Faraday, Jeff Bridges simply does not ring true. In the right role (The Fabulous Baker Boys, Starman, even King Kong), the actor can do a fabulous job, but, for whatever reason, he proves incapable of making Michael believable. This is too obviously a performance, and I was never able to accept the character as real. Bridges overacts every emotionally charged scene, and seems bored the rest of the time (the often-laughable paragraphs of dialogue he is forced to recite don't help). Instead of drawing the audience into the desperation of Michael's situation, Bridges forces us to watch from a calculated distance as he fumbles his way through a part he's clearly not comfortable with. The rest of the cast is fine, although not superlative. Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack are suitably creepy. We know from the beginning that their white bread appearance is just a facade. Consequently, it's not much of a shock when the two begin to exhibit psychotic tendencies. There's not much meat to either role, but Robbins and Cusack get the most out of what they're given. Hope Davis, who opened eyes with luminous performances in The Daytrippers and Next Stop, Wonderland, is criminally underused in the "generic girlfriend" part. It's hard to put my frustration about this film into words. Too often, otherwise promising scripts fall apart because the director and screenwriter can't come up with a compelling way to end a movie. Arlington Road has the opposite problem. With another rewrite or two, and perhaps a casting change, this movie might have been a top-notch thriller. As it is, however, its numerous weaknesses drag it down to the level of just another "psycho murderer on the loose" story. Given a chance, take a detour around Arlington Road.
Rating:
Summary: How well do you know your neighbour? Not well enough!
Review: Believe me, after you see this movie, you will probably start making suspicious glances at your neighbours. This is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. Jeff Bridges is great as the paranoid protagonist. Tim Robbins is absolutly chilling in his role as "the guy next door". There are absolutly NO flat performances in this movie. The opening sequence is also top-notch creepiness. The story is top-notch. This was also directed by the same Mark Pellington who did The Mothman Prophecies, I reccomend buying this movie for a good solid paranoid thriller. Just remember, just because you're paranoid dosen't mean they're not after you!
Rating:
Summary: Shocking Twisty Tale
Review: After seeing this film in the theater, I was quite shocked at the turn of events at the evening. In fact, I liked this film better than its rival of the time, "The Sixth Sense." The DVD is your standard DVD with commentary, and the director at times is a bit boring. But the film itself is definitely worth it and will have you watching again and again for the little nuances throughout the film.
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