VHS : Arlington Road [1999]

Rating: - terrifying
After so much tragedy that has happened in america and all over the world in the last few years this film holds an eerie and frightening similarity to events which have taken place. What would you do if you suspected your charming, kind and all round decent neighbour of being a terrorist?That is the problem Jeff Bridges faces in this gripping and horribly real film that pushes all the right panic buttons in your mind, and leaves the question going around your head soon after the film is over.

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Rating: - Reasonable....
3 Stars for this movie.

I purchased this a long time ago, watched it once and shoved it to the back of the cabinet, where it lurked unwatched. Recently, I had another look, and I must admit, given all things happening in reality, it gave a new perspective on the film. Tim Robbins is 'good' in the movie, but I must say Jeff Bridges' performance (Either intentional or as directed) has a slightly ludicrous and annoying angle to it - trying too hard to engage the viewer in 'tension' and Bridges' character's perceived mania at what he believes is happening. It just looks a little wrong. I understand the thought behind it, but it actually doesn't convey to me what I assume it is supposed to. Without going on for too long, I would recommend catching this on TV before purchasing it. You may love it, but then again, like me you may find that some of the implementation is rather off-putting.

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Rating: - Realistic and Shocking!
This is a movie that I think everyone should watch. We watched it some years ago and several times since. Everytime, it is impactful. I started thinking about this movie recently when reading about more terror propaganda in the UK. I was reminded of an article in the papers that described one of the 7/7 bombers as just a "normal, average guy" who had a regular job and loved soccer, "just like many other young Britons, his neighbors said".

That really hits home when you watch Arlington Road. Everybody should be aware that THEY, too, can be manipulated to "carry the bomb into the building." The references to Ruby Ridge and The OK bombing in the movie reflect the time it was made/released, but it is even more meaningful after 911.

The movie may seem to begin a bit slowly - that was my initial impression - and it was only afterward that I realized that this was a perfect metaphor for how "normal life" can totally mask what is really going on. But don't worry, it soon grabs you by the throat and doesn't let you go until the final, horrifying revelations at the end.

Jeff Bridges plays his part very well - a guy so blinded by emotion that he is putty in the hands of cold-blooded manipulators. Bridges (as the hero) thinks he's got a handle on what's going on, but in fact, this is hubris. One could say the same for most "conspiracy theorists." You only know what "they" want you to know or figure out.

Some people think the plot is too complex, too far-fetched, but I think that's not the case. You don't need much imagination to see how such an elaborate set-up could easily be achieved in anyone's life. There are plenty of movies that talk about that aspect of things. The only thing is, they all make it seem like such dramatic, high adventure, that we forget that it is the mundane, the ordinary, the ho-hum existence, that veils truly evil things.

The psychological slamming is all there at the end and that's exactly it; how it MUST be in real life. Life is so "ordinary, so boring, so tedious, so commonplace, that it lulls us into complacency. And that is undoubtedly what the filmmaker was trying to convey... that sense of ordinariness, mundane life that covers another reality of conspiracy and evil-doing.

For example, only AFTER the end of the movie do you realize that the bleeding kid at the beginning was all part of the set-up, that the terrorist/parents actually used their own child as bait, and even caused a severe injury to the child in order to make that bait more compelling. Was the kid brain-washed or terrorized? Probably. What kind of monsters would do that to a child?

And that makes the final scene even more chilling, where the terrorists stand there in front of the house for sale and wear their "mask of sanity," saying the world is getting too scary...

Yes, the good guys die and the bad guys continue on... but then, isn't that reality?

---

Rating: - Realistic and Shocking!
This is a movie that I think everyone should watch. We watched it some years ago and several times since. Everytime, it is impactful. I started thinking about this movie recently when reading about more terror propaganda in the UK. I was reminded of an article in the papers that described one of the 7/7 bombers as just a "normal, average guy" who had a regular job and loved soccer, "just like many other young Britons, his neighbors said".

That really hits home when you watch Arlington Road. Everybody should be aware that THEY, too, can be manipulated to "carry the bomb into the building." The references to Ruby Ridge and The OK bombing in the movie reflect the time it was made/released, but it is even more meaningful after 911.

The movie may seem to begin a bit slowly - that was my initial impression - and it was only afterward that I realized that this was a perfect metaphor for how "normal life" can totally mask what is really going on. But don't worry, it soon grabs you by the throat and doesn't let you go until the final, horrifying revelations at the end.

Jeff Bridges plays his part very well - a guy so blinded by emotion that he is putty in the hands of cold-blooded manipulators. Bridges (as the hero) thinks he's got a handle on what's going on, but in fact, this is hubris. One could say the same for most "conspiracy theorists." You only know what "they" want you to know or figure out.

Some people think the plot is too complex, too far-fetched, but I think that's not the case. You don't need much imagination to see how such an elaborate set-up could easily be achieved in anyone's life. There are plenty of movies that talk about that aspect of things. The only thing is, they all make it seem like such dramatic, high adventure, that we forget that it is the mundane, the ordinary, the ho-hum existence, that veils truly evil things.

The psychological slamming is all there at the end and that's exactly it; how it MUST be in real life. Life is so "ordinary, so boring, so tedious, so commonplace, that it lulls us into complacency. And that is undoubtedly what the filmmaker was trying to convey... that sense of ordinariness, mundane life that covers another reality of conspiracy and evil-doing.

For example, only AFTER the end of the movie do you realize that the bleeding kid at the beginning was all part of the set-up, that the terrorist/parents actually used their own child as bait, and even caused a severe injury to the child in order to make that bait more compelling. Was the kid brain-washed or terrorized? Probably. What kind of monsters would do that to a child?

And that makes the final scene even more chilling, where the terrorists stand there in front of the house for sale and wear their "mask of sanity," saying the world is getting too scary...

Yes, the good guys die and the bad guys continue on... but then, isn't that reality?

---

Rating: - Realistic and Shocking!
This is a movie that I think everyone should watch. We watched it some years ago and several times since. Everytime, it is impactful. I started thinking about this movie recently when reading about more terror propaganda in the UK. I was reminded of an article in the papers that described one of the 7/7 bombers as just a "normal, average guy" who had a regular job and loved soccer, "just like many other young Britons, his neighbors said".

That really hits home when you watch Arlington Road. Everybody should be aware that THEY, too, can be manipulated to "carry the bomb into the building." The references to Ruby Ridge and The OK bombing in the movie reflect the time it was made/released, but it is even more meaningful after 911.

The movie may seem to begin a bit slowly - that was my initial impression - and it was only afterward that I realized that this was a perfect metaphor for how "normal life" can totally mask what is really going on. But don't worry, it soon grabs you by the throat and doesn't let you go until the final, horrifying revelations at the end.

Jeff Bridges plays his part very well - a guy so blinded by emotion that he is putty in the hands of cold-blooded manipulators. Bridges (as the hero) thinks he's got a handle on what's going on, but in fact, this is hubris. One could say the same for most "conspiracy theorists." You only know what "they" want you to know or figure out.

Some people think the plot is too complex, too far-fetched, but I think that's not the case. You don't need much imagination to see how such an elaborate set-up could easily be achieved in anyone's life. There are plenty of movies that talk about that aspect of things. The only thing is, they all make it seem like such dramatic, high adventure, that we forget that it is the mundane, the ordinary, the ho-hum existence, that veils truly evil things.

The psychological slamming is all there at the end and that's exactly it; how it MUST be in real life. Life is so "ordinary, so boring, so tedious, so commonplace, that it lulls us into complacency. And that is undoubtedly what the filmmaker was trying to convey... that sense of ordinariness, mundane life that covers another reality of conspiracy and evil-doing.

For example, only AFTER the end of the movie do you realize that the bleeding kid at the beginning was all part of the set-up, that the terrorist/parents actually used their own child as bait, and even caused a severe injury to the child in order to make that bait more compelling. Was the kid brain-washed or terrorized? Probably. What kind of monsters would do that to a child?

And that makes the final scene even more chilling, where the terrorists stand there in front of the house for sale and wear their "mask of sanity," saying the world is getting too scary...

Yes, the good guys die and the bad guys continue on... but then, isn't that reality?