The Good Neighbor (2016)

Purely Joyful Movie!

Best movie of this year hands down!

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

I'm a fan of the found-footage genre in general as it occasionally provides opportunities for creative, low budget ideas. Usually they're just a clichéd mess.I was close to switching this off after 20 minutes. It just seemed like two annoying teens setting up a dull Paranormal Activity-style bore. The only reason I kept going was James Caan, who played his role with understated menace well enough to reel me in.By the halfway point I was genuinely enjoying the mystery, even if I was ultimately expecting a stereotypical conclusion. However this is a film defined by its brilliant ending; one that is true to the set-up and which has an impact rare in the majority of films. My only criticism is that the way the film pretends to be one thing whilst actually being something else is likely to either alienate most of the audience it is being sold to, whilst at the same time not appealing to those who will really appreciate it.

It's rare for a movie these days to come up with something unique by way of story, but this one's twist ending is bound to create an awareness in the viewer that things are not always as they seem. Up until that point, the picture was dragging for me, primarily due to the shrill relationship between teenage buddies Sean (Keir Gilchrist) and Ethan (Logan Miller). They get involved in what they call their 'Haunting Project', a deliberate attempt to scare their next door neighbor, a neighborhood curmudgeon named Harold Grainey. Grainey's reputation has taken a hit over recent years due to the death of his wife, and the story's non-linear exposition of Grainey's true character is what makes the story's resolution so stunning. All the while I'm waiting for Harold to go big time Sonny Corleone on the pair of instigators, and it just wasn't meant to be. If you can suffer through the emotional outbursts of the frustrating, movie-making, scientist wannabe's, the outcome will most likely affect you with a visceral response. That they seemingly got away scot-free with what might be considered a legitimate manslaughter rap only made me that much angrier.

This movie was an average thriller. Yes, it had some chilling moments but probably not enough to keep the viewer's interest. Caan was good as the mostly confused old man who looked somewhat menacing. However, the movie is spot on when it comes to depicting the current youth's obsession with filming stuff, in this case as part of some "experiment". In this day and age, anyone with a half-decent camera can film whatever they like and this is a growing threat to privacy as we know it. Overall, a decent movie but somewhat lacking in chills. No edge-of-the- seat stuff here despite the intriguing premises.

One of the best movies I've seen in my life. Starting to see the movie, I never imagined what the outcome would be, I totally thought the opposite. I had another vision of the "neighbor". It's a sensational triller, that holds you from beginning to end, the temporal narrative, with flashes, memories and the end to the beginning fits very well, it's been a long time since I was moved by a movie, I cried, serery underrated movie! Masterpiece