Samuel L. Jackson character upends stereotypes in 'Lakeview Terrace'
Jackson plays a law-and-order racist who doesn't like the interracial couple next door.
Chuck Zlotnick / Screen Gems
THE LOS ANGELES Police Department and race relations factor prominently in a number of celebrated dramas, including "Crash" and "L.A. Confidential." The upcoming thriller "Lakeview Terrace" pushes the often combustible mix of law enforcement and ethnic identity into a notably different direction: the film's racist police officer is black.
Many events conspire to drive LAPD Officer Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson) off the deep end, but one of the film's more incendiary ideas focuses on the role of interracial romance. Part of what transforms Turner from a man with a badge into the neighbor from hell is the newly married couple next door: Chris Mattson (Patrick Wilson) is white, while his wife, Lisa (Kerry Washington), is black.
"It was a different take, something that is not often portrayed," said James Lassiter, who with actor Will Smith produced "Lakeview Terrace" for Sony's Screen Gems. Race, Lassiter added, "is not the singular driver of [Turner's] hate. But he is a racist."
It's not just that Turner disapproves of his neighbors' latte-sipping lifestyle, which includes indiscreet romantic encounters, liberal friends and -- the horror! -- a hybrid car (Turner's a giant SUV-driving right-winger). Turner, a single father of two, also can't stand that the skin color of his neighbors isn't the same. "You can listen to that noise all night long," Turner at one point says to Chris as he listens to rap music, "but when you wake up in the morning, you'll still be white."
Jackson believes that in the PG-13 rated "Lakeview Terrace," like the rest of the world, race is both text and subtext, which may make the movie especially topical. "People will say they are not voting for [Barack Obama] because he's black, but of course they are. They have no idea what his platform is," the actor said. "Race is an issue that everybody thinks about but you avoid talking about."
The early trailer and poster for the film, which opens Sept. 19, don't give the race relations story line much of a mention, but it's largely what brought the movie's cast -- and its frequently rabble-rousing director, "In the Company of Men's" Neil LaBute -- to the project.
"There have been precious few films made about it," said LaBute, of the subject of mixed-race marriage. "But it's not necessarily the thing that draws an audience."
