...... But getting there is a bumpy road. It might be easier to dismiss this plot as simply a paranoid fantasy had something like this not actually happened. Though the movie refers to an incident in St. Louis where a federal building was bombed, it clearly is based on the 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City. And its up to Jeff Bridges to prevent another such incident in Arlington Road. Bridges plays a history professor at George Washington University who specializes in acts of domestic terrorism. In fact, his wife was an FBI agent killed in a botched raid on a separatist farm three years earlier. Now, a new family in his suburban neighborhood seems to have a lot of things they are hiding. The father has changed his identity and had once tried to blow up a government agency with a pipe bomb. He claims to be an architect for structures like malls, but he has all kinds of schematics in his home he will not allow anyone to see. Their oldest child almost blows his arm off with an explosive device. They lived in St. Louis when the previous bombing took place etc, etc etc. Does the family across the street have a future bombing on their agenda now that they live in the Washington D.C. area???
I can appreciate the acting, directing, and pacing of this film. It has a good cast and great production values. And the conclusion was well thought out and very, very clever. But there are just too many silly scenes and coincidences that the entire plot is built on. If you apply logic to even a couple of them, then this plot could not get from A to B. How big of a coincidence is it that Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack (the bad guys) end up moving right across the street from someone who so perfectly fits the kind of man they wish to frame? How does Bridges's grad student girlfriend just happen to be on the exact same level of the exact same shopping mall at the EXACT same time as Robbins so she can witness him up to no good? Not possible. No way. Awfully convenient that someone always seems to sneak up behind Bridges or his girlfriend just as they are about to discover something or say something important. And of course the soundtrack always provides a sharp dose strings and horns as they do. I think Ebert refers to these as "stings". And how could so much of the bombing plot be left to the actions of someone not knowingly involved in it? Would this terrorist organization really hinge everything on Bridges being able to drive his damaged vehicle through heavy security and into the targeted building? And why does Bridges's cell phone connection with his FBI friend just happen to disconnect at a time when he could logically explain everything and prevent the attack. Oh, hell. The ending is really cool, at least. The entire film is a good time capsule from a point when Americans were most frightened by domestic enemies. 6 of 10 stars.
The Hound.
I can appreciate the acting, directing, and pacing of this film. It has a good cast and great production values. And the conclusion was well thought out and very, very clever. But there are just too many silly scenes and coincidences that the entire plot is built on. If you apply logic to even a couple of them, then this plot could not get from A to B. How big of a coincidence is it that Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack (the bad guys) end up moving right across the street from someone who so perfectly fits the kind of man they wish to frame? How does Bridges's grad student girlfriend just happen to be on the exact same level of the exact same shopping mall at the EXACT same time as Robbins so she can witness him up to no good? Not possible. No way. Awfully convenient that someone always seems to sneak up behind Bridges or his girlfriend just as they are about to discover something or say something important. And of course the soundtrack always provides a sharp dose strings and horns as they do. I think Ebert refers to these as "stings". And how could so much of the bombing plot be left to the actions of someone not knowingly involved in it? Would this terrorist organization really hinge everything on Bridges being able to drive his damaged vehicle through heavy security and into the targeted building? And why does Bridges's cell phone connection with his FBI friend just happen to disconnect at a time when he could logically explain everything and prevent the attack. Oh, hell. The ending is really cool, at least. The entire film is a good time capsule from a point when Americans were most frightened by domestic enemies. 6 of 10 stars.
The Hound.