The Good Neighbor

I think the IMDB rating is dead on with this movie. Nothing special but definitely entertaining enough to the point you want to see what happens next.

Plus how you can you not like the main dude after Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse?

All minor nuances aside, this film is a prime example of what the standard should be even if it's a lower-budget production. The Good Neighbor has both drama and suspense. At its core, the film is a crime-thriller. It reminded me a bit of "I Am Not a Serial Killer", which was also just released this year. Both are very fine movies that blend genre elements and have skillful writing, directing, acting and editing. They are extraordinarily sophisticated in style and will exceed most viewers initial expectations.

There are teen friends, one whom has wealth and technical expertise at his disposal and his eyes on MIT, and his friend who has plenty of ingenuity and fortitude and interest in social research but is from a "broken home". The pair undertake a social-psychological experiment, and use the grouchy, solitary old grump of the neighborhood as their unwitting subject. For their experiment, they equip the old grumps home with numerous hidden cameras and electrical devices in order to manipulate the grumps home appliances, fixtures, gadgets and such. They are then able to remotely control and view everything that occurs.

They soon realize that the old grump is a rather unusual subject. He has a basement securely locked from the outside, a mysterious visiting woman, no apparent fear towards the extreme tactics they make to convince him he's haunted, and he's unpredictability violent and destructive. One teen begins to regret conducting the experiment, the other one is determined that the old grump is hiding a dark secret. The teens watch, record and attempt to manipulate the old grump for weeks in hopes of revenge, online views, and uncovering the old mans secrets.

Throughout the film there are segments where a prosecutor speaks to and interrogates different people on the witness stand. This makes it clear that the "experiment" didn't play out so well. This film had me hypothesizing and thoroughly engaged. For once, my initial theory was completely off-track.

Watched this because James Caan was in it. Reviews suggested it would have a Don't Breathe/Paranormal Activity vibe about it and I'd agree.

Two kids surveil and "haunt" Caan as a an alleged social experiment and document it all in a found footage style.

Caan plays the miserable old guy perfectly and still has great presence, pretty good for a "150 year old"!

It moves at a steady pace and rewards you at the end with a solid twist.

After a fairly lacklustre start, The Good Neighbour turns into an imaginative, tense and gripping film. A genre let's face it that has been done to death in recent years, I can think of so many similar films, but this one actually does a great job. The scenario is a little different, you get to see two sides of the story, it's more in the psychological drama genre, it's tense and suspenseful. It is very well acted, everyone plays their part well, it would have been easy to overact. The final showdown was good, but I wish they'd have made it a little more suspenseful, it was a little underdone.

Overall I thought this was a very good film, very watchable. 7/10

To keep it short, very average film but entertaining. All good, convincing acting. Truly a lot of the film is the two leads in a bedroom watching the cameras they put in place of their neighbor. The believable acting and differences in opinion between the characters was entertaining enough for me to watch this film. Unlike Paranormal Activity which is kind of the same concept only this film, The Good Neighbor, has dialogue. The story was cut up between three different time lines that were inserted bit by bit to unravel the complete story and it was executed beautifully. Without giving spoilers, it leads on in such a way that it makes you guess the ending. I personally guessed it wrong again and again and I could not predict the climax of the film but some smaller parts I could. One thing I like in the film were the references to other films and the posters of old films like, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman and Night of the Living Dead. It does make sense in the film to the main character, Ethan, played by Logan Miller who's character is into film. My favorite part of this film is the very last shot that shows the true nature of one of the characters. But no spoilers so I can't elaborate. I guess you'll just have to watch the film! I watched this on Netflix in my free time and I can't say I wasted my time. I would also recommend renting it but I personally wouldn't purchase this film unless I hadn't yet seen it. It feels like a one time watch but with the realistic performances, maybe I could watch it again.