A movie that encourages us all to become shut ins.
The Good Neighbor has a fairly interesting premise that has to be dragged down into the sewer by found footage. I was surprised to see that James Caan plays the unsuspecting elderly neighbor.
The test: Can you convince someone that they are being haunted?
The participant is obviously unwillingly subjected to this experiment. While the idea is interesting, one thing that stuck in the back of my head was the blatant illegality of the actions in the film. Granted, this is a movie, and in the end I guess we aren’t supposed to care. Perhaps this is something that lingers due to my life in academia, but it is something that annoyed me. Even if the neighbor is an asshole (and they try to make a case for this being a reason) there are some moral questions that the film doesn’t really explore.
To continue down my nit-picky path, the aspect ratio is inconsistent, and the majority of the time doe not take up the whole film. It isn’t always in found footage, which is weird, and the jerking back and forth is obnoxious.
The characters are obnoxious, the aspect ratio is frustrating, the twists are dumb, and the overall message is muddled. It is too bad to see someone as strong as Caan in such a weak film.
I think what irritates me the most is that there was an interesting premise here. Too bad the film has to waste our time by layering dumb twists, intrigue, and such obvious “betcha didn’t see that coming” moments that you might feel a little insulted. Not worth the time. 1/10
Jay Hates Movies 