Arlington Road

Arlington Road is a 1999 neo-noir mystery thriller film^[1] directed by Mark Pellington and starring Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack, and Hope Davis. The film tells the story of a widowed George Washington University professor who suspects his new neighbors are involved in terrorism and becomes obsessed with foiling their terrorist plot. The film was heavily inspired by the growing concern in the 1990s regarding the right-wing militia movement, Ruby Ridge, the Waco siege and Oklahoma City bombing.^[4]

Arlington Road
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mark Pellington
Written by	Ehren Kruger
Produced by	Peter Samuelson Tom Gorai Marc Samuelson
Starring	Jeff Bridges Tim Robbins Joan Cusack Hope Davis Robert Gossett
Cinematography	Bobby Bukowski
Edited by	Conrad Buff
Music by	Angelo Badalamenti
Production companies	Arlington Road Productions Corp.[1] Lakeshore Entertainment[2] Tom Gorai Productions[2] Marc Samuelson Productions[2]
Distributed by	Screen Gems (through Sony Pictures Releasing; United States)[1] PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (United Kingdom)[3]
Release dates	March 19, 1999 (1999-03-19) (United Kingdom) July 9, 1999 (1999-07-09) (United States)
Running time	119 minutes[1]
Countries	United Kingdom[1] United States[1]
Language	English
Budget	$31 million
Box office	$41.1 million

Ehren Kruger wrote the script, which won the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' (AMPAS) Nicholl Fellowship in 1996. The film originally was to have been released by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, but the film's United States distribution rights were sold to Sony Pictures Entertainment for $6 million.^[5] The eventual release was the second title for Screen Gems (and its first wide theatrical release) while PolyGram (now part of Universal Studios) handled some foreign rights.

Plot

Michael Faraday is a history professor at George Washington University, specializing in terrorism. His class in American terrorism studies real life cases as well as the imaginary case of Dean Scobee who died setting off a bomb in St Louis 14 months prior to the beginning of the movie. Michael notes to the class that Dean's experience in the army was as a radio operative rather than a role associated with weapons or bombs, that he had no previous record of violence or criminal activity which left open questions about why and how Dean was able to build a complicated bomb. He tells the students that the government like terrorism cases to be solved quickly, in order to make the public feel safe.

Michael's FBI agent wife Leah died in the line of duty in a Ruby Ridge-style standoff, and Michael now lives with his 9-year-old son Grant in Reston, Virginia. He is still friends with Leah's partner Whit Carver, and is dating his former graduate student Brooke Wolfe.

Upon finding a severely injured boy named Brady stumbling in his neighborhood, Michael rushes him to the hospital, where the wounds are determined to be caused by fireworks. Michael meets Brady's parents, structural engineer Oliver Lang and housewife Cheryl, discovering they are his neighbors. They become friends, and their sons join the Discoverers, a Boy Scouts-style youth group.

While talking to Michael about Leah's death, Oliver launches into an anti-government tirade. This, the cause of Brady's injuries and the realisation that Grant has been talking to Oliver about Leah's death makes Michael suspicious. He also receives misdirected mail, suggesting Oliver lied about his college years. Brooke and Whit dismiss his concerns as paranoia. Michael fakes being locked out with a dead cell phone in order to use the phone in Oliver's home office while only the Lang's children are home. He discovers blueprints hidden behind a framed picture of the St Louis arch but is nearly caught by Cheryl returning from shopping. He notices the behaviour of the Lang daughters is very cold and suspicious, as is Brady's, in contrast to their parents warmth.

Michael takes his class on a field trip to the site where Leah was killed and excoriates the FBI for igniting the standoff by failing to assess whether the besieged Weaver family were armed. His students appear uneasy as a clearly emotional Michael defends the actions of the Weavers who were protecting their home from armed strangers and insists that the fault lies with the FBI for not identifying themselves as federal agents to the family.

Michael tries to prevent Grant from attending a Discoverers camp which he had previously approved. Grant attempts to change his mind by citing that the camp has lots of adults and that his best friend is attending to which Michael responds that maybe Brady is a bad person to be alone in the woods with, leading Grant to storm off. Brooke calms Grant and persuades Michael who reluctantly lets Grant go to camp with Brady. Grant asks his father if Brooke will move in with them, to which Michael responds that no one will ever replace Leah and he will not ask Brooke to move in without Grant knowing and approving.

Michael uses Grant's absence to do more researching on Oliver, contacting various colleges asking for his records under the guise of his professorial role. This research reveals that Oliver was born William Fenimore and tried to blow up a Kansas post office at age 16. Oliver discovers Michael's interest and confronts him, stating that Michael's research failed to identify the reasons for his immature act which were that the government disallowed his family to use water from the creek running through their farm, destroying the business. Oliver's father committed suicide but staged it as an accident so that his family could get his life insurance payout. This failed to pay off all the debts and neighbours bought all their land at an auction. Oliver also confirms that he changed his name to that of a childhood friend who died when they were both 25, which he says was a way to honour him.

Michael appears to let the matter drop but argues with Brooke over what he has discovered. Furious, Brooke defends the Langs and tells Michael he is letting Leah's death and terrorism become an obsession that is destroying his relationships, walking out. Brooke later spots Oliver in a car park swapping cars with a strange woman. Feeling that this is suspicious, Brooke follows Oliver to an industrial area near a local shopping mall where she sees him meeting with men who then load metal boxes into the loaned vehicle Oliver is driving. Realising that Michael may have good reasons to be concerned, Brooke calls him from a payphone and leaves a message on his answer phone confirming that she has seen Oliver doing something odd and is about to drive directly to Michael's house to discuss this. Hanging up, Cheryl suddenly appears behind Brooke and the two have an awkward conversation. Brooke is then apparently killed in a car accident.

Michael learns of Brooke's death on the news and drives to the scene, breaking down in grief. Isolated and alone, Michael calls the Langs to drive him home. Cheryl and Oliver offer comfort to Michael and he apologises to them, apparently wanting to make a fresh start on the friendship. After discovering that at least one message had been erased from his answering machine, Michael tells Whit his suspicions about Oliver and asks Whit to check FBI records about Oliver as well as the call logs to his home.

Michael cancels his class hours and visits the father of the late Dean Scobee in St. Louis, from where the Langs had moved. The elder Scobee is certain Dean was innocent given the numerous infant victims and Dean's volunteer work with children. Michael sees Dean in a Discoverers group photo with Brady and Grant's troop leader, and frantically rushes to retrieve Grant from the camp. Troop leaders tell him that Grant was taken home with Brady by their troop leader, and Michael storms into the Langs' home; Oliver confirms that his group killed Brooke, refuses to reveal Grant's whereabouts, and threatens Grant's life should Michael speak to law enforcement. He also tells Michael that he killed the original Oliver in order to take his identity, making it seem like an accident.

Whit tells Michael that he ran the names, despite the risk to his career, and that the FBI discovered nothing suspicious surrounding Oliver/William following his imprisonment at 16. He also confirms that two calls were made to Michael's home the day Brooke died, one from himself and one from a mall payphone. Unable to talk to Whit since he knows Oliver and Cheryl are watching him, Michael drives to the source of Brooke's call, from where he follows a suspicious delivery vehicle and watches some of Oliver's acquaintances loading metal boxes into it.

Michael follows the van and is shocked to see Grant at the window. Oliver intercepts Michael's car and beats him, promising to kill Grant and expounding his group's mission and their current target: the J. Edgar Hoover Building. Michael overpowers Oliver and illegally drives into the FBI headquarters garage pursuing the van that turns out to be empty and the driver is not the one Michael saw with Grant. When Whit tells him that he is the only unauthorized person there, Michael rushes back to his own car, discovering a bomb in the trunk seconds before it detonates. The blast partially collapses the FBI headquarters, as Oliver watches from a distance and Grant plays with Brady.

A news montage, portraying Michael as a lone wolf terrorist seeking revenge for Leah's death, shows that the Langs have successfully framed him with Michael's increasingly erratic behaviour supporting their version of events. Statements from Michael's students (one of whom is a conspirator) support the official story, giving accounts of his paranoia and his grudge against the FBI. The case is closed and the public can feel safe again, just as with Dean Scobee. Grant, now orphaned, moves in with relatives, unaware of his father's innocence. Oliver and Cheryl put their house up for sale and prepare to move their family to another safe suburb where their group will groom another fall guy for their next attack.^[4]

Cast

• Jeff Bridges as Michael Faraday
• Tim Robbins as Oliver Lang/William Fenimore
• Joan Cusack as Cheryl Lang/Fenimore
• Hope Davis as Brooke Wolfe
• Robert Gossett as FBI Agent Whit Carver
• Spencer Treat Clark as Grant Faraday
• Mason Gamble as Brady Lang/Fenimore
• Stanley Anderson as Dr. Archer Scobee
• Laura Poe as FBI Agent Leah Faraday

Reception

Box office

Sony paid $6 million to acquire the film's United States distribution rights.^[5] It opened at #6 in its opening weekend with $7,515,145 behind American Pie, Wild Wild West's second, Big Daddy's third, and Tarzan and The General's Daughter's fourth weekends.^[6] The film eventually grossed $24,756,177 in the United States theatrically.^[7]

The film made a worldwide gross of $41 million on a budget of $31 million.^[7]

Critical response

The film holds a 63% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 92 reviews. with the site's consensus stating; "A suspenseful thriller led by strong cast performances built around a somewhat implausible story."^[8] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 65 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[9]

Roger Ebert, who gave the film 2 out of 4 stars,^[10] wrote of the film:

Arlington Road is a thriller that contains ideas. Any movie with ideas is likely to attract audiences who have ideas of their own, but to think for a second about the logic of this plot is fatal.^[10]

Home media

The film was initially released on VHS and DVD October 26, 1999 by Columbia TriStar Home Video. A Blu-ray of the film was later released on August 7, 2007 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Television adaptation

In April 2021, it was announced a television series adaptation based on the film was in development at Paramount+. The project is to be a co-production between CBS Studios and Village Roadshow Television with Pellington and Seth Fisher serving as executive producers.^[11]