Arlington Rd.

Carina and I watched Arlington Road last night. Mike had tentatively recommended it to me, upon learning that I like complex plots and that I’m a sucker for conspiracy theory films. I felt that this movie was just a little slow, although well executed – Tim Robbins gave a terrific performance. Although I did have a really hard time watching Jeff Bridges without adding “man” to the end of everything he said, a la The Big Lebowski.

I was pleased with the non-traditional (ie: non-Hollywood) ending, although the logistics of the setup were a little weak. I like complex movies, and I like conspiracy theory movies; but I do not like a movie where the structural underpinnings of a successful operation rely solely on the bad guys’ thorough predictions of the protagonist’s actions. Take, for example, the first season of 24 – or more specifically the first half of the first season, which is all that I’ve seen so far. The complex plot was originally quite compelling, and very engaging. But eventually it just got too much to bear: Ira Gaines’ multiple kidnappings and CTU insider corruptions were simply too thoroughly planned and too flawlessly executed to be believable, given what can reasonably be expected of “human behavior”.

We’re going to watch the alternate ending to Arlington Road tonight.