Are you paranoid enough?
Rating: 10 of 10 
Do you feel safe? You might answer with yes, but after this movie, you'd probably want to change that answer. 'Arlington Road' is a very unusual movie, depicting very old issues: Broken trust and desperation. Professor Faraday (Jeff Bridges), whose wife's life was lost during a mis-planned FBI operation, suspects his neighbor (Tim Robbins) to be a terrorist, but his suspicions are not shared by his surroundings. So he's on his own to try to unveil his new friend's identity and to stop whatever it is he's doing.
The story might sound simple, but the way the movie takes, and the way it is being portrayed, are not. The intensity created by the images on the big screen is undescribable, and it is reflected on Jeff Bridges' face - his character falling more and more into desperation, into insanity, leaving all thinking behind and being led only by his emotions. Sometimes, you can't be paranoid enough.
Amongst the highlights of this movie is its main titles montage - with most movies today either lacking main titles at all or following quite a usual recipe with that, like fulfilling a seemingly unnecessary obligation, this movie starts with a very much breathtaking opening and titles. And you might wonder how I come mentioning it, but even the end titles do not flow the usual way - they do not scroll down, they blink into existence and fade away. By depicting these little details I just want to underline this film's extraordinary pace and visual style. Together with the music of Angelo Badalamenti, this is somehow a crossover between David Lynch and The X-Files, delivering an excellent contribution to today's visions of darkness.
April 7th, 1999
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