The Neighbor

The 2016 movie titled "The Neighbor" starts out fairly slow and doesn't really progress much at any kind of speed, right up until Rosie sees something through the binocular. But then the movie does kick up into an impressive gear, and leaves behind its former semi-boring pace.

Without going too much into detail about the actual storyline, I will just briefly summarize the movie. John and Rosie are planning to leave town in order to start a new and better life, when Rosie makes a gruesome discovery through a looking glass directed towards their neighbor. And when John comes home, Rosie is nowhere to be found...

What works out in "The Neighbor" is the way that director Marcus Dunstan constructed the movie and managed to build up a good atmosphere and a sense of dread throughout the course of the movie. There is a good flow to the storyline, once it kicks into gear.

And the acting in the movie was quite good, although you shouldn't expect any dramatic Shakespearian thespian performances though. But people did good with their roles and character, taking the genre and fairly simplistic storyline into consideration.

I will say that Josh Stewart (playing John) actually stood out among the acting talents in "The Neighbor", because he really carried the movie quite well.

However, the movie did suffer from an overshadowing predictability. You knew what would happen throughout the course of the movie, and you knew how it would end. To that point, it was somewhat of a disappointment, because "The Neighbor" didn't really bring anything new to the crime / thriller genre which hadn't already been seen countless times before.

"The Neighbor" is a good movie for an evening's worth of entertainment. However, I doubt that you will be putting the movie on a second time around, because once you have seen the movie, there just isn't enough meat on the bone to support more than a single viewing.

There were many opportunities throughout the movie to make the 'neighbor' more mysterious, more freaky, and more cunning, but these were quickly abandoned in favor of a more clichéd criminal. That is my largest disappointment with this film. Otherwise, it worked well as an action/thriller.

The protagonists are caught up in a mob's smuggling operation, and they use a telescope to spy at people through the window. One day, the girlfriend (Who, I assume by the hero's subsequent panic is never supposed to leave the house) spots something incriminating and is nabbed by the neighbor. (Yes, this is the actual premise of the film, not the more innocent summaries I have read elsewhere. I don't know why they bother hiding the fact that their protagonists are criminals too).

So everybody, who is incidentally criminal, is trying to get one up on each other by sleuthing, tackling, slashing, shooting and your usual hijinks. The movie has good photography, good soundtrack, and is a bit gritty - kind of like the only quality everybody seems to need to survive.

I finished watching The neighbor a few minutes ago and as of now(September 2016) I am not able to find a Wikipedia page dedicated to this movie, while even worse movies have their own Wikipedia page. Anyway, I decided to watch this movie solely based on its IMDb rating. Ans was I pleasantly surprised! I felt this movie needs to be watched by more people which is why I decided to write a review.

The first few minutes made me think it was going to be one of those movies with disappointing endings. But at half hour past the beginning, things began to turn and the ride got more and more exciting.

Positives: - Does not have too much gore like many other thrillers have. But still keeps u at edge of seat.

• Strong female characters who are not just there for skin show and they are the kind who don't need a male knight in shining armor to save them as in many other thriller movies.

• Does not have moments where people torture each other or give a long speech before killing them(no wiggle room for someone who's at gunpoint)

• All the characters are grey characters. Not completely good or bad. Gives us chance to think who we are rooting for.

Negatives: - Lacks character development which helps keep the movie shorter

• Had a weak start which can seem boring to some people.

Overall, it's an enjoyable movie.

This is a very well-done thriller, that got a lower rating than I think it deserves. Fine plot, good acting and great cinematography (minus the strange intro), all contribute to a great film. Just ignore the mediocre ratings, and rent this one. I was surprised at how fine a film this was. You'll be surprised too!

I'm a big fan of Marcus Dunstan. I'll never forget being in a hotel room late one night when a movie I'd never heard of called 'The Collector' came on, and I thought I'd give it a look. What followed were 90 of the most intense minutes I can remember seeing on film. While I still enjoyed 'The Neighbor', I can admit it didn't quite live up to those high standards. It's a fun premise, but instead of being tense from whoa to go, it has long sequences that are actually rather dull and hard to focus during. Those are really the only parts that let it down though, because the rest is excellent.

Josh Stewart fills the lead role again. I think he's an under-appreciated actor. He brings a tremendous intensity to a movie and manages to be likable, even when playing a crook (although often a crook who is the lesser of two evils). The main villain isn't quite as memorable as 'The Collector', hence the more toned down film title of 'The Neighbor'. I suspect that is what Dunstan was going for though. A more grounded and realistic story, while still keeping all the suspense of his previous films. He almost pulls it off to perfection and with some simple editing tweaks this could have been something very special. Alas it will have to settle for being an above average thriller.