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      Arlington Road

      R Released Jul 9, 1999 1 hr. 59 min. Mystery & Thriller List
      63% 92 Reviews Tomatometer 74% 25,000+ Ratings Audience Score Widowed when his FBI agent wife is killed by an extremist group, college professor Michael Faraday (Jeff Bridges) becomes obsessed with the culture of these groups -- especially when his new all-American neighbors, Oliver (Tim Robbins) and Cheryl Lang (Joan Cusack), start acting suspiciously. With each twist, the mystery deepens and questions loom as to whether Faraday is consumed by fear and driven by paranoia, or whether a lethal conspiracy has been born on Arlington Road. Read More Read Less
      Arlington Road

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      Critics Consensus

      A suspenseful thriller led by strong cast performances built around a somewhat implausible story.

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      Audience Reviews

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      Victor P A mind-blowing suspenseful thriller! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/06/24 Full Review Steve D A deeply unplesent time despite the cast. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/24 Full Review Jd R A fever dream of imagination that only maintains a suspension of disbelief in a narrative briefly. You might be entertained between the opening scene and the point when the (ironically named) Professor Faraday becomes a full fledged conspiracy theorist about 30 minutes in. Outside of that the entire movie gives you the feeling that it was made for (and by) people who live under a rock and have a paranoid worldview that revolves entirely around themselves and emotional fringe theories based on rhetoric. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 09/24/23 Full Review Ola G Michael Faraday (Jeff Bridges) is a history professor at George Washington University specializing in terrorism. His FBI agent wife Leah died in the line of duty in a Ruby Ridge-style standoff, and Michael now lives with his 9-year-old son Grant in Reston, Virginia. He is still friends with Leah's partner Whit Carver, and is dating his former graduate student Brooke (Hope Davis). Upon finding a severely injured boy named Brady stumbling in his neighborhood, Michael rushes him to the hospital, where the wounds are determined to be caused by fireworks. Michael meets Brady's parents, structural engineer Oliver Lang (Tim Robbins) and housewife Cheryl (Joan Cusack), discovering they are his neighbors. They become friends, and their sons join the Discoverers, a Boy Scouts-style group. In casual conversation, Oliver expresses his sympathy for Leah's death by displaying potentially violent anti-government beliefs. This, and the cause of Brady's injuries, arouses suspicion in Michael. He also finds blueprints in Oliver's possession that are not for his purported building project, and receives misdirected mail suggesting Oliver lied about his college years. Brooke and Whit dismiss his concerns as paranoia. Michael takes his class on a field trip to the site where Leah was killed, and excoriates the FBI for igniting the standoff after failing to probe the besieged family. His students appear uneasy. Michael reluctantly lets Grant go to a Discoverers camp with Brady. His research reveals that Oliver was born William Fenimore and tried to blow up a Kansas post office at age 16. Oliver discovers Michael's interest and confronts him, stating that his immature act (in revenge for the government's role in his father's suicide) cost him imprisonment and a new identity to hide his past from his children, which he regrets. Michael appears to let the matter drop. However, Brooke later spots Oliver swapping cars and exchanging metal boxes with strangers. From a payphone, she leaves Michael a message lending validity to his suspicions, but is discovered by Cheryl... Rotten Tomatoes consensus stating; "A suspenseful thriller led by strong cast performances built around a somewhat implausible story." Roger Ebert, wrote of the film: Arlington Road is a thriller that contains ideas. Any movie with ideas is likely to attract audiences who have ideas of their own, but to think for a second about the logic of this plot is fatal. (via Wikipedia) The storyline with how well do you know your neighbour we have seen several times before. "Arlington Road" feels just like a repetition of "Blown Away" also starring Jeff Bridges with him running around screaming with a face in agony. "Arlington Road" is stretched to the limit and the tension and excitement is missing to my mind. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/18/23 Full Review jessica b This is my favorite movie. I have watched it several hundred times now…It was 1999. New Years Eve- the eve of the New Millenium, Y2K and even some would say "the end of the world" but no…that didn't happen. So I am a freshman in highschool. I refuse to watch horror movies of any sort bc well into my 20's I was afraid of the dark and had to sleep with the lights on. (Anytime it's time to go to bed, my brain goes "Hey!!!! Remember that really scary scene in IT where he becomes the moon and then pops out from under the bed?" Because who really needs sleep 😂). So my parents put this movie in and immediately it's super creepy music, photos of houses are turning red, there's a little boy stumbling down the middle of the road…dripping blood…nope. I make them pause it, re-read the back of the cover and there's no horror stuff (I'm confused?) Anyway. This is not a movie too watch once or twice. EVERY time i watch this movie, there's a new piece connected to another piece. This is the conspiracy theory movie of all movies! My favorite part in this movie is when Jeff Bridges aka Prof Michael- asks the class how they felt when the oklahoma bomber was on the loose (panic, fear). And then- when they named the man they said was responsible. And he was gone, he was no more. A sense of safety returns. Fear- that's gone. Because you know his name. (There are so many food for thought questions, where should you draw the line at boundaries, mass hysteria, how well do you really know anyone. Who can you trust?) And that the media will feed you misinformation. As facts. Hold accountable one person by the many who set him up. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/11/23 Full Review colin m Suspense movie starring Jeff Bridges. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Arlington Road

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      Critics Reviews

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      Nell Minow Common Sense Media Scary movie about terrorism. Not for kids. Rated: 3/5 Dec 22, 2010 Full Review Bob Graham San Francisco Chronicle Rated: 3/4 Jun 18, 2002 Full Review Globe and Mail Rated: 2/4 Mar 19, 2002 Full Review Avi Offer NYC Movie Guru Gripping, provocative and haunting with Hitchcockian suspense. A bold, bitter, slow-burning thriller made for critical thinkers. One of the best thrillers of the 90s. Rated: 9/10 Feb 21, 2021 Full Review C.H. Newell Father Son Holy Gore Arlington Road is a mystery-laden thriller, not without flaws. Overall, it does the job of sucking you in and never letting go, not until the last beat. Rated: 4/5 May 7, 2019 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews An entertaining yet egregiously over-the-top thriller... Rated: 2.5/4 Apr 7, 2017 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Widowed when his FBI agent wife is killed by an extremist group, college professor Michael Faraday (Jeff Bridges) becomes obsessed with the culture of these groups -- especially when his new all-American neighbors, Oliver (Tim Robbins) and Cheryl Lang (Joan Cusack), start acting suspiciously. With each twist, the mystery deepens and questions loom as to whether Faraday is consumed by fear and driven by paranoia, or whether a lethal conspiracy has been born on Arlington Road.
      Director
      Mark Pellington
      Executive Producer
      Judd Malkin, Tom Rosenberg, Sigurjon Sighvatsson, Ted Tannebaum
      Screenwriter
      Ehren Kruger
      Distributor
      Screen Gems
      Production Co
      Lakeshore Entertainment, Screen Gems
      Rating
      R (Violence|Some Language)
      Genre
      Mystery & Thriller
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Jul 9, 1999, Wide
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Apr 16, 2012
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $24.4M
      Sound Mix
      Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Surround, Dolby SR
      Aspect Ratio
      Scope (2.35:1)