Arlington Road

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Arlington Road
Arlington Road film poster
Directed by	Mark Pellington
Produced by	Tom Rosenberg Sigurjón Sighvatsson Ted Tannebaum
Written by	Ehren Kruger
Starring	Jeff Bridges Tim Robbins Joan Cusack Hope Davis Robert Gossett
Music by	Angelo Badalamenti tomandandy
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Entertainment
Release date(s)	1999
Running time	117 min.
Language	English
Budget	$31 million
IMDb profile

Arlington Road is a 1999 film, most notable for its twist ending (similar to that of 1974's The Parallax View), which tells the story of a widowed George Washington University professor who suspects his new neighbors are involved in terrorism and becomes obsessed with foiling their terrorist plot. The film stars Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack, and Hope Davis and is directed by Mark Pellington. Ehren Kruger wrote the script, which won the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' (AMPAS) Nicholl Fellowship in 1996

1 Plot
2 Cast & characters
3 Trivia
4 Parodies
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Michael Faraday is a college history professor who's been raising his nine-year-old son, Grant, since the untimely death of his FBI agent wife who was killed in the line of duty. Somewhat of a specialist regarding American terrorism, Michael starts to become suspicious of his new suburban neighbors, Oliver and Cheryl Lang, whom he's just met after taking their son, Brady, to the emergency room following a reported fireworks accident. At first his suspicions are based on little things such as Oliver's architectural blueprints that seem to be for something other than the shopping mall he claims he's building, as well as pieces of mail that contradict where Oliver said he attended college.

Of course neither his girlfriend and former student, Brooke Wolfe, nor his wife's former partner, Whit Carver, believe any of his wild theories, especially since the Langs seem like such nice people. Yet, Michael continues to uncover what could be possible evidence and becomes even more wary of Oliver and Cheryl. As such, his beliefs that they're behind some sort of pending terrorist act, coupled with the fact that no one believes him, soon drives Michael to the brink of madness.

[edit] Cast & characters

Jeff Bridges as Michael Faraday
Tim Robbins as Oliver Lang
Joan Cusack as Cheryl Lang
Hope Davis as Brooke Wolfe
Robert Gossett as FBI Agent Whit Carver
Spencer Treat Clark as Grant Faraday
Mason Gamble as Brady Lang

[edit] Trivia

The events surrounding the death of Michael Faraday's wife bear many similarities to the controversial events at Ruby Ridge.
Also, the mentioned bomber in St. Louis, Scobee, bears many similarities to Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing.
Filmed in Houston, Texas, the university scenes were shot at the University of Houston between the University Center and Melcher Hall (College of Business).

[edit] Parodies

In 2005, three students from Brighton, England, created Arlington Bye, a series of alternate endings using real-life footage and Macromedia animation, which were then posted on the popular Newgrounds website. The humour of these endings came from the fact they came at key points in the film, long before the actual ending takes place. The most famous of these endings saw Farraday hit by a bus and killed, with his ghost declaring that the film had ended. There was then a crude, real-life credits sequence written on toilet roll. The other two endings saw Farraday and Carver frolicking in the foutain outside the college to the song "The Greatest Love of All" by Whitney Houston, and a fight scene near the end climax with both Farraday and Lang looking cheekily at the camera and grinning. The cartoon was well received by the website's users and continues to be a key area of interest.