Love Thy Neighbor

After wasting 89 minutes of my life to watch this film, I was haunted by one of the bad songs littered repeatedly in the soundtrack in an attempt to set film's tone. Director Nick Gregory splices & dices 2 terrible songs throughout this film, as if the rights for other music could not be obtained; or perhaps he didn't think his script could stand on its own w/o drowning scenes in music constantly. This was one of many overly stylized gimmicks Gregory uses, including annoying jump cuts within single conversations. He also exploits juxtaposing scenes back and forth, which loses its effect when used too often. He splices sounds effects too, like the sound of a cigarette burning. In one of the back and forth scenes, a conversation with 2 people on a tennis court is shot with the sound of a tennis ball being hit back and forth. The hand-held camera techniques are laughably bad. He attempts to create tension during a stressful phone call by moving the camera erratically around the actor's face, creating headaches. The aforementioned tennis court scene also had the camera whipping back and forth from actor to actor as they spoke... yeah, they're on a tennis court, we get it. These are film techniques I'd expect in a student film. Kudos to all the actors for doing a great job despite the poor taste of the director/script. Low budget films can be great with vision, imagination, and style. Gregory has none of these.

Since Love Thy Neighbor has, unfortunately, only one review thus far – and that review is rather scathing – I feel I should offer a more correct opinion. (No small sacrifice on my part as IMDb demands 10 lines of text before accepting a review. Can you tell I'm padding?) The performances in Love Thy Neighbor are very good, especially the lead character. The jump cut editing in this movie is done quite well and gives it an unusual feel, creating its own style. As the lead character's life spirals out of control the ride is a lot of fun. Love Thy Neighbor deserves better fate than the obscurity it seems to dwell in.

In short, what a heap. This movie is a blurred attempt to capture the warmth of marriage, the lust of a wild fling and the compassion in friendship. Not only did it miss on all three attempts, but your left with an hour and a half worth of whining and sniveling by the male lead. Something is wrong with a movie where the guy from "The Princess Bride" and a cameo from Scott Wolf can steal the entire show. The most infuriating part is the futile attempt at a twist ending. "Oh, this movie is transcending genre's now. How nice!" Watch a re-run of "Full House" before watching this atrocity. 1 out of 10 stars.

I don't know why the reviews for this film have been so harsh. In a world of germaphobes and acts of adultery this movie provides a comical take on a possible consequence of extramarital sex. Incredibly clever, well acted, fantastic music to compliment the deteriorating chain of events. My husband and I have watched this movie countless times after enjoying an adult party night. I couldn't praise it more enthusiastically, give it a chance!

Like another reviewer I got this flick because I wanted to see what Jennifer Bransford was up to before General Hospital. The plot is actually interesting, guy is banging his neighbor's wife, neighbor confides that he's cheating too and might have HIV, guy flips out. The guy is question is awful. The character is badly written and the acting is poor. Actually the only thing that prevents this flick from being a complete waste of time are the actresses, Jennifer Bransford and Kellie Overbey. John Enos, also a soap actor, is just as bad as the other male lead. What could have been an interesting story of two decomposing relationships is lost in a series of nonsensical jump cuts, bad writing, and bizarre non sequitors. Obviously the filmmakers wanted this movie to be "different," but it turned out just bad. There's a twist ending that seems tacked on that it would have been better off without.