Lakeview Terrace (2008)

"I am the police! You have to do what I say!"

                                                              - Able Turner

Obviously casting can influence how easily an audience relates to a character (some actors are amazing and truly become their characters while others suck) but the influence of casting that is displayed in Lakeview Terrace springs from the audience’s preconceived notions of an actor. We live in a country where we know a lot about our entertainers. Whether we actively follow celebrity news or not, all of us are aware of the stereotypical narratives that are out there: the young Hollywood starlet who parties hard, goes to rehab, and makes a triumphant return; the handsome leading man of action who walks away from buildings as they blow up in slow motion; etc. Rather than ask the audience to suspend their disbelief regarding which actor is playing which role, Lakeview Terrace director Neil LaBute steers into our assumptions. 

The film centers on police veteran Abel Turner, played by Samuel L. Jackson, who terrorizes Chris and Lisa, his new interracial next door neighbors. His disapproval (hell anger) towards the recently married couple isn’t easily apparent at first. Viewers will continue to ask themselves well into the film whether Jackson’s character is actively harassing them or if these incidences are just new neighbors learning each other’s idiosyncrasies. For example, when Chris and Lisa are fooling around in their backyard pool, Abel is upset that they are setting a bad example for his children. Abel buys new floodlights for his backyard to “keep any possible intruders away.” When the floodlights end up being aimed directly into the bedroom of the young couple they naturally take offence. This early exchange is just one example and with each new conflict the feud gets further amplified. 

Still throughout the majority of the movie viewers won’t be fully sure of Abel’s intentions. Is he racist? Is he just uptight? We sympathize with the new couple but we don’t completely demonize Able’s actions; we even make excuses with ourselves for them. This is where the casting influence is apparent. Samuel L. Jackson’s off screen identity causes us to give Able waaaay more leeway than we normally would. Jackson is such a popular actor and likeable with fans that we forgive more than we would a no name actor in this role. This same technique was also used to great effect with the casting of Denzel Washington in Training Day. The idea seems to be if you can’t curb people from bring their knowledge of celebrity culture to your movie, then you should use it to your advantage. It’s a great tool and takes what would otherwise be an average movie and makes it something worth watching.