:Lakeview Terrace

Abel Turner is a black American LAPD officer living in the Lakeview Terrace neighborhood of Los Angeles. He becomes outraged when an interracial married couple, Chris and Lisa Mattson, move in next door, and begins antagonizing them by repositioning his home security floodlights to shine into their bedroom window at night and making underhanded racial remarks to Chris regarding his marriage. Later, Chris and Lisa have sex in their swimming pool, but unbeknownst to them, Abel's children, Marcus and Celia, are watching them. When Abel arrives home and witnesses the spectacle, he angrily refuses to take down his floodlights despite Chris’ requests. Abel also begins to insinuate to Chris that he disapproves of his marriage and wants them to move out of the neighborhood.

One evening, Chris and Lisa hear noises downstairs and find the tires on Chris' car slashed. Suspecting Abel, they call the police, who cannot do anything because of Abel's status within the LAPD. Chris retaliates by shining his own floodlights into Abel's bedroom. Lisa later reveals she is pregnant, creating conflict with Chris, who does not yet want children. Meanwhile, Abel is suspended for abusing a suspect, inciting more fury within him. Abel continues harassing the couple by hosting a loud bachelor party with his colleagues where he forces Chris to be sexually harassed by a stripper. Chris later plants trees along the fence between their properties, which leads to a near-violent exchange, as Abel objects to having trees hanging over his property and cuts them down.

When Chris goes to a local bar, Abel enters and tells him that his own wife died in a traffic accident while alone with her white male employer, although she was supposed to be nursing an elderly Jewish patient, leading him to believe that she was being unfaithful. The tragedy and his suspicions left him with a hatred for whites and interracial relationships. Abel finally accuses Chris and all white men of trying to take whatever and whomever they want. Abel sends his informant, Clarence Darlington, to trash the Mattsons' home in another effort to scare them out, but Lisa arrives home early, surprising him. They struggle and Lisa is knocked unconscious, but not before she triggers the alarm. Chris races home, followed by Abel, who fatally shoots Clarence as he tries to flee the home. Lisa is rushed to the hospital but recovers.

Wildfires are raging in the surrounding hills, so the residents are instructed to leave their homes. Abel, who remains behind, surreptitiously enters the Mattsons', hoping to retrieve Clarence's cell phone, fearing that it will incriminate him. Lisa and Chris unexpectedly return home from the hospital before Abel finds it, and he quickly leaves. While the Mattsons pack to evacuate, Chris finds the cell, calling the last number dialled and Abel answers.

Realizing Chris knows he is responsible behind the break-in, Abel heads over with his gun drawn, and the men struggle. As Lisa tries to escape, Abel shoots her car, causing her to crash into a parked vehicle. After pistol-whipping Abel and seemingly knocking him unconscious, Chris tries to free Lisa from the car. Abel shoots at him but misses, and Chris holds Abel's other gun at him while telling him to stay back. Hiding his gun in the back of his pants, Abel claims he is unarmed when LASD deputy sheriffs arrive on the scene. The officers demand Chris drop his gun, and Abel to not move, uncertain of who the aggressor is. His wife begs him to comply and Abel tells him to listen to her. Remembering the corrupt cop’s previous admission, Chris retorts that Abel should have listened to his wife and tauntingly implies his belligerent attitude drove her to cheat. Enraged at Chris' words, Abel is provoked into pulling out his backup revolver and shooting Chris in the shoulder. His true nature exposed, Abel is unceremoniously gunned down and killed by his former colleagues.

Chris survives the shooting, and in the ambulance, he and Lisa talk with pride about their home, neighborhood, and soon-to-be family, while the wildfires finally seem to be contained.

{{castlist|

• Patrick Wilson as Chris Mattson
• Samuel L. Jackson as Officer Abel Turner
• Kerry Washington as Lisa Mattson
• Jaishon Fisher as Marcus Turner
• Regine Nehy as Celia Turner
• Jay Hernandez as Officer Javier Villareal
• Keith Loneker as Clarence Darlington
• Ron Glass as Harold Perreau
• Caleeb Pinkett as Damon Richards
• Justin Chambers as Donnie Eaton
• Lynn Chen as Eden
• Dale Godboldo as Dale
• Robert Pine as Captain Wentworth
• Bitsie Tulloch as Nadine
• Eva LaRue as Lt. Morgada
• Vanessa Bell Calloway as Aunt Dorrie
• Robert Dahey as Jung Lee Pak
• Ho-Jung as Sang Hee Pak

}}

The plot was loosely based on real life events in Altadena, California, involving an interracial couple, John and Mellaine Hamilton, and Irsie Henry, an African-American Los Angeles police officer.{{Cite web |last=|first=|date=August 30, 2007 |title='Extremely Disturbing' Behavior |url=https://www.pasadenaweekly.com/extremely-disturbing-behavior/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122160907/https://www.pasadenaweekly.com/extremely-disturbing-behavior/ |archive-date=November 22, 2020 |access-date=January 28, 2024 |website=Pasadena Weekly}} The saga was documented in a series of articles in both the Pasadena Star News and the Pasadena Weekly beginning in 2002.{{cite news |newspaper=Pasadena Weekly |date=8 August 2008 |last=Coleman |first=Andre| url=http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/art_imitating_headlines/6125/ |title=Art imitating headlines: New movie mirrors former cop's ongoing racial feud with neighbors |access-date=1 August 2021 }} Journalist Andre Coleman received a Los Angeles' Press Club Award for Excellence in Journalism for his series of articles in the Weekly.{{cite news |date=26 June 2008 |newspaper=Pasadena Weekly |title=Weekly wins Press Club awards |author=Piasecki, Joe |author2=Uhrich, Kevin |author3=Stolz, Kit |url=http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/weekly_wins_press_club_awards/6105/ |access-date=1 August 2021 }} Henry was eventually fired by the LAPD for his actions.{{cite news |url=http://www.leagle.com/xmlResult.aspx?xmldoc=in%20caco%2020100514023.xml&docbase=cslwar3-2007-curr |work=leagle.com |title=HENRY v. CITY OF LOS ANGELES, IRSIE HENRY Plaintiff and Appellant, v. CITY OF LOS ANGELES et al., Defendants and Respondents. No. B213148.|date=14 May 2010 |access-date=1 August 2021 }}

The majority of the film was shot in Walnut, California, on North Deer Creek Drive. The scene where Abel Turner comes out of the police station to talk to his partner and other police officers was filmed in Hawthorne, California, on the corner of Grevillea Ave. & 126th St.{{cite web|url=https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=90250&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=44.47475,79.013672&ie=UTF8&ll=33.917602,-118.354069&spn=0.001429,0.002411&t=h&z=19| title=Grevillea Ave. and 126th St, CA - Google Maps | publisher=Google Maps | access-date=10 August 2009}}

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 44% based on 167 reviews, with an average rating of 5.50/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "This thriller about a menacing cop wreaking havoc on his neighbors is tense enough but threatens absurdity when it enters into excessive potboiler territory."{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1196215_lakeview_terrace | title=Lakeview Terrace (2008) | publisher=Rotten Tomatoes | access-date=November 1, 2017}} On Metacritic, the film has an average weighted score of 47 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/lakeviewterrace | title=Lakeview Terrace Reviews | website=Metacritic | access-date=21 September 2008 }} Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.{{cite web |date=12 September 2016 |last1=Busch |first1=Anita |last2=D'Alessandro |first2=Anthony |title='Sully' Lands At $35M, 'Bough' Breaks With $14.2M – Monday B.O. Final |url=https://deadline.com/2016/09/sully-glides-in-with-1-35m-for-warner-bros-thursday-box-office-1201815274/ |website=Deadline Hollywood }}

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a very positive review, awarding it his highest rating of four stars and saying: "Some will find it exciting. Some will find it an opportunity for an examination of conscience. Some will leave feeling vaguely uneasy. Some won't like it and will be absolutely sure why they don't, but their reasons will not agree. Some will hate elements that others can't even see. Some will only see a thriller. I find movies like this alive and provoking, and I'm exhilarated to have my thinking challenged at every step of the way."{{cite web |date=September 18, 2008 |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |title=Good fences make bad neighbors |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/lakeview-terrace-2008 |website=Chicago Sun-Times |publisher=RogerEbert.com }}

Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle also enjoyed the film, saying: "In its overall shape and message, Lakeview Terrace is a conventional suspense thriller, but the details kick it up a notch. ... The fun of Lakeview Terrace is not in what happens but in how it happens."[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/18/DDMK1290A2.DTL&type=movies Lakeview Terrace review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922140730/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2008%2F09%2F18%2FDDMK1290A2.DTL&type=movies |date=September 22, 2008 }}, Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle, J.R. Jones of the Chicago Reader called the film "one of the toughest racial dramas to come out of Hollywood since the fires died down – much tougher, for instance, than Paul Haggis's hand-wringing Oscar winner Crash."[http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/moviereviews/080918/ Lakeview Terrace review] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921022013/http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/moviereviews/080918/ |date=21 September 2008 }}, J.R. Jones, Chicago Reader

Dennis Harvey of Variety said that Lakeview Terrace "delivers fairly tense and engrossing drama" but "succumb[s] to thriller convention."[https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117938230.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&query=Lakeview+Terrace Lakeview Terrace review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090719215745/http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117938230.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&query=Lakeview+Terrace |date=July 19, 2009 }}, Dennis Harvey, Variety Anthony Lane of The New Yorker said that "the first hour of the film ... feels dangerous, necessary, and rife with comic disturbance," but added that "the later stages ... overheat and spill into silliness."[https://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2008/09/22/080922crci_cinema_lane?currentPage=1 Lakeview Terrace review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606102904/http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2008/09/22/080922crci_cinema_lane?currentPage=1 |date=June 6, 2013 }}, Anthony Lane, The New Yorker James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film two stars out of four, saying that "the first two-thirds of Lakeview Terrace offer a little more subtlety and complexity than the seemingly straightforward premise would afford, but the climax is loud, dumb, generic, and over-the-top."[http://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/lakeview-terrace Lakeview Terrace review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928150242/http://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/lakeview-terrace |date=September 28, 2017 }}, James Berardinelli, ReelViews

Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe said that "the movie might have something to say about black racism, but the conversations go nowhere, and the clichés of the genre take over."[https://www.boston.com/movies/display?display=movie&id=11269 Lakeview Terrace review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205103433/http://boston.com/movies/display?display=movie&id=11269 |date=February 5, 2009 }}, Wesley Morris, Boston Globe Sura Wood of The Hollywood Reporter said: "[The idea of] a black actor cast as the virulent bigot, with the object of his campaign of harassment the young interracial couple who move in next door, could be viewed as a novel twist. But the film, absent a sense of place and populated by repellent or weak characters, soon devolves into an increasingly foul litany of events."[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film/reviews/article_display.jsp?rid=11631 Lakeview Terrace review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329093306/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film/reviews/article_display.jsp?rid=11631 |date=March 29, 2010 }}, Sura Wood, The Hollywood Reporter Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal gave it one half of a star out of five, and called the film a "joyless and airless suspense thriller."[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122177747252654291 Lakeview Terrace review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171128062643/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122177747252654291 |date=November 28, 2017 }}, Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

In its opening weekend the film grossed $15 million, placing it at number one in the United States.{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?view=&yr=2008&wknd=38&p=.htm | title=Weekend Box Office Results from 9/19 to 9/21 | publisher=Box Office Mojo | date=21 September 2008 | access-date=26 November 2008}} The film went on to gross $39.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $3.2 million in other territories, for a total of $42.4 million worldwide.

{{Portal|Los Angeles}}

• List of films featuring home invasions

{{Reflist}}

• {{official website|https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/lakeviewterrace}}
• {{IMDb title|0947802}}

• [http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/21/boxoffice.ap/index.html Lakeview Terrace debuts in top spot at box office] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922101255/http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/21/boxoffice.ap/index.html |date=September 22, 2008 }} CNN
• [http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/copping_out/6402/ "Pasadena Weekly - Copping Out" ]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100316054926/http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/?id=5033&IssueNum=87 "Pasadena Weekly - Extremely Disturbing Behavior"]

{{Neil LaBute}}

{{Will Smith}}

Category:2008 films

Category:2008 crime thriller films

Category:2008 psychological thriller films

Category:American crime thriller films

Category:American psychological thriller films

Category:2000s English-language films

Category:Fictional portrayals of the Los Angeles Police Department

Category:Films about interracial romance

Category:Films about race and ethnicity

Category:Films directed by Neil LaBute

Category:Films produced by Will Smith

Category:Films scored by Jeff Danna

Category:Films scored by Mychael Danna

Category:Films set in Los Angeles

Category:Films with screenplays by David Loughery

Category:Films about home invasion

Category:Overbrook Entertainment films

Category:American police detective films

Category:Screen Gems films

Category:Films about racism in the United States

Category:2000s American films

Category:English-language crime thriller films