I've seen a lot of adverts for this film going back a long way and it had coloured my expectations on what this film would be like. It was still roughly what I was expecting though the subtlety of it made the film far better to watch.

Abel Turner (Samuel L Jackson) is policeman in L.A. he lives with his daughter and son in a nice suburb called Lakeview view crescent. He gets some new neighbours a young mixed race couple Chris and Lisa Mattson (played by Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) starting a new life out in California in their first home.

Things start out a little awkward between the new neighbours, then become tense a few minor disagreements, and gradually things on both sides start to deteriorate.

It slowly descends over the course of the film which is set against the backdrop of the California wild fires slowly approaching the area. You could almost see the fires as an indicator of the relationship of the neighbours. I'm not sure if that was intended or if I'm reading too much into things much like the way things progress in the film.

Performances are pretty good it is by no means a clean cut right and wrong more possible misunderstanding and just a culture clash of the strict rule obsessed cop and the more carefree liberal younger couple.

As things devolve the relationships become strained and not just between neighbours but in both house holds.

This has some well observed stuff on the relationships between neighbours and how small things build up. People take things the wrong way and things become confrontational each side escalating till it seems there is no way to back down.

The cast is very good the attitudes of each of the neighbours seems pretty realistic. The supporting cast is pretty good with people like Ron Glass (who played Shepard Book on firefly) playing Lisa's father and Regine Nehy as Abel's rebellious teenage daughter Celia.

At times I thought it would end differently but it was pretty much how I expected. It is pretty much a study of how these people react to each other and the dynamics of a neighbourhood. It is well executed and shot pretty well. Some of the scenes with Jackson come off as decidedly creepy but that is part of the mix.

All in all a good solid drama with some well observed performances.

This film is a sort of “Neighbours from Hell” in film form. From the moment they move in Abel is less than happy to see them. This starts out as quite mild, but perhaps a little tactless, and progresses from there. Decisions and habits from the couple don't help exactly, but they're not exactly completely unreasonable and the response is disporportionate.

Interestingly there is a while in the film where I was wondering if Chris is perhaps overreacting or being overly sensitive, and Abel is being presented from his viewpoint. This turns out not to be the case however.

I thought this was done quite well, the plot progressed without dragging, and while Abel has his reasons for why he ended up like this they're no excuse for his behaviour. The conflict is fuelled by problems on both sides of the fence which find an outlet in escalating this disagreement, altough it has a fair amount of momentum on its own.

Overall I thought that the story developed the concept well, and the ending was suitable... alhough somehow while the film didn't seem shallow as such it felt like perhaps there should be something else going on as well. I don't know what, but it just felt a little... thin.