This tightly wound thriller starring Jeff Bridges and Tim Robbins opens with a bang. Bridges gets involved helping a kid covered in blood. It’s not apparent if the kid himself is bleeding or if he was pulled from the scene of a terrible crime. The dual possibilities is a note well-handled throughout the film. Bridges wife was murdered in a botched raid, and he forms a kinship with his new neighbors, who have their own extremist beliefs. It seems certain that someone is plotting something, but what? And how?
Some of the clues are discovered too easily, just left out to raise suspicion, but the cast and direction operate with a smooth professionalism. Bridges is at his charismatic peak and Robbins balances him witha lot of subtle nuance and ambiguity. This is played out among scenes of domestic suburbia that provide a wonderful atmosphere. Characters can be suspicious while they lovingly play with their kid. The pace is similar to Rosemary’s Baby, where things are kind of slow at first, but events escalate until by the end you can hardly keep up with everything going on, allowing the film to deliver at knockout climax.
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