Blu-Ray Review: Odd Canadian Thriller ‘Good Neighbors’ Falls Apart

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CHICAGO – Part satire, part black comedy, and part Hitchcockian thriller, the Canadian flick “Good Neighbors” just barely misses it mark by failing to deliver on its set-up. The problem with reviewing it is that I can’t really go into details on my issues with it without some serious spoilers, so I’ll just leave it as a simple criticism — I didn’t find the ending satisfying. There’s nearly enough that works about the first two acts of the film to warrant a rental for thriller fans, but don’t be surprised if the final act lets you down.

Blu-Ray Rating: 2.5/5.0

An awkward-and-unusual young man named Victor (Jay Baruchel of “Tropic Thunder” doing rare but effective dramatic work) moves into an apartment building in Montreal. He tries to get friendly with a wheelchair-bound neighbor (Scott Speedman) and tries to romance another (Emily Hampshire). Oh, did I mention there’s a disturbing serial killer on the loose?

“Good Neighbors” is an oddly constructed film, and I mean that as a compliment. Where a lot of filmmakers would stress the serial killer angle, playing games with the audience as to whether or not one of these three people might be the murderer or one of his victims, Jacob Tierney constructs most of his story around, believe it or not, cats. As the film progresses, secrets are casually revealed and the structure of the film works to its advantage. Passages may seem slow but are then finished off with a revelation that is underlined like so many American thriller directors tend to work. I was really with “Good Neighbors” for most of its running time.

Good Neighbors was released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 27th, 2011
Photo credit: Magnolia

Then “Good Neighbors” gets truly disturbing. Tierney turns the tables more than once and the film gets well, kind of gross. There’s a fine line in material like this in which a film can go from dark & edgy to uncomfortably extreme. Something happens to a neighbor at the hands of one our protagonists that is just beyond twisted. And the film never quite recovers from that turn of the plot. I like a lot of what Tierney and his cast do here, especially the always-great Baruchel, but I can’t recommend the film overall. It’s just short of “Good.”

One quick note — the deleted scene is an interesting one, especially if it came early in the film, as it offers a bit of history into one of the character’s mental states. You should check it out.

Synopsis:
Neighbors Spencer (Scott Speedman) and Louise (Emily Hampshire) have bonded over their fascination with a recent string of murders terrorizing their community. When a new tenant named Victor (Jay Baruchel) arrives in the building, all three quickly hit it off. But they soon discover, each of them has their own dark secret. As the violence outside mounts, the city retreats indoors for safety. But the more time these three spend together in their apartment building, the clearer it becomes that what they once thought of as a safe haven is as dangerous as any outside terrors they could imagine.

Special Features:
o Deleted Scene
o HDNet: A Look at Good Neighbors
o Theatrical Trailer
o BD Live Enabled

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com