Arlington Road
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack
Directed By: Mark Pellington

What would you do if you thought your neighbor was a terrorist? Jeff Bridges plays Michael Faraday, a professor at George Washington University who teaches a course on Domestic Terrorism. Michael is a widowed husband of an FBI agent, killed in the line of duty during a botched raid of a supposed militia group. When neighbor Oliver Lang, played with intense heat by Tim Robbins, moves in across the street, all seems well. During a neighborly visit to Oliver's home, Michael notices a bluprint of what looks to be an office building. Why does he have this blueprint? Michael begins to check into it, and finds out that Oliver Lang is actually William Fenimore who at the age of sixteen, built a pipebomb and sent it to the local officials. So is Oliver still carrying on his ways, or is it all just paranoia? Is Michael overblowing everything, and pushing everyone away? As in most Jeff Bridges' movies he plays his character with incredible ease and seems perfect for the role, (see such films as White Squall and Blown Away). He is easily one of the most under-rated actors of the decade, and you begin to wonder why he isn't a star, the real reason is that he chooses his roles for the sole reason of the part, not it's budget or action hero type stuff. Tim Robbins also is amazing, pulling a 180 from his role of Andy Dufresne, in The Shawshank Redemption with his role as possible terrorist Oliver. Joan Cusack also has a substantial role as Oliver's wife, which she pulls off with restrained sensibilites. It doesn't even seem like she's acting. The movie is amazingly shot, and like many recent terrorist films, like, The Siege and The Peacemaker, this film doesn't load on the action to bring in the crowds, it knows what it has is pure talent and capitalizes on that talent, knowing not to dumb down to the audience. The film's plot itself is one of true mind-bending reasons to rent this story of trusting thy neighbor. B+