Stars: Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack, Hope Davis, Robert Gossett, Mason Gamble

Director: Mark Pellington

Summary: George Washington University professor Michael Faraday (Jeff Bridges) teaches a course in terrorism, but after his wife, an FBI agent, is killed under questionable circumstances, he becomes obsessed with the topic. An all-American family moves in across the street, but Faraday soon suspects that they might be terrorists themselves. Bridges's portrayal of the man fighting against a virtually unseen enemy, with no one believing him, is reminiscent of Jimmy Stewart in Alfred Hitchcock's THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH.

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It's easy to understand why Arlington Road sat on the studio shelf for nearly a year. No, the film isn't awful; rather, it's an extremely edgy and ultimately bleak thriller that offers no clear-cut heroes or villains. In other words, Hollywood had no idea how to sell it. Director Mark Pellington's underrated directorial debut, Going All the Way, suffered the same fate, essentially because the film-maker's presentation of suburban America often shifts dramatically within the same film. Characters are usually miserable and bordering on meltdown, no situation is straightforward and things usually end badly.

Arlington Road begins as an astute study of suburban paranoia. Michael Faraday (a face-pinched Jeff Bridges, who spends most of the film on the brink of tears) is a college professor who teaches American history courses on terrorism. He's been a conspiracy freak since his wife, an FBI agent, was killed during a botched raid that feels like a thinly fictionalised reference to the Waco tragedy. After saving the life of his next-door neighbour's child, he initially befriends the family (Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack), but soon believes the husband is a terrorist. The first half of the film mocks Faraday: he has no real evidence and is not the most stable of protagonists. Despite the fact that it was government paranoia that got his wife killed, Faraday repeats the same type of behaviour. Pellington shifts gears in the second half, however, and for a while, it seems that the film has simultaneously sunk into a cheap, high-octane brand of Hollywood entertainment and undermined its own point. But Arlington Road possesses a stunning ending that's a real gut punch, one that may leave you needing a second viewing to catch all of its smartly executed setup. --Dave McCoy

Aspect Ratio:	2.35 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Scene Access
Subtitles:	Dutch, English, German
Year:	1999
Release Date:	November 8, 1999
Runtime:	113 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	058 917 2
Keywords:	Road, General, Wide, Screen, Thriller, Psychological, Arlington
Genre:	Drama