No one does seething rage any better than Samuel L. Jackson. Having the actor himself live next door would be intimidating; having his character in "Lakeview Terrace" next door would be completely unacceptable.

Alas, that is the situation for poor Chris and Lisa Mattson, a rather uninteresting, generic couple who have just bought their first house in a nice Los Angeles neighborhood.

The lacrosse-playing, Prius-driving interracial liberals quickly find that their neighbor, Jackson's Abel Turner, doesn't appreciate anything about them, especially that interracial part. Turner is a stern and volatile single parent who also happens to be an L.A. cop. Oh, and he's a bit nutso.

Almost from the first second Chris and Lisa move in, Abel is pushing to get them to move out. His neighborly words are tinged with anger, and, hmmm, who might be behind the series of minor harassments that just began? Better call the police ... oh no.

Chris decides to fight back, and the situation, naturally, escalates. One thing leads to another, the happy couple squabbles, things start to get dangerous, and, well, does it all mean anything if the raging California wildfires burn down the neighborhood?

Patrick Wilson, so good as a wayward husband in "Little Children," can't do much to give Chris life here. The character is essentially a caricature. Kerry Washington ("Ray") fares worse, as her Lisa is never given anything to do to lift her above bland.

Jackson is clearly the star of the show. Abel was probably a good cop once, and Jackson nearly manages to make him sympathetic at times -- before he goes completely around the bend.

Essentially, however, "Lakeview Terrace" is just another bad-neighbor flick. The filmmakers make a half-hearted and obvious stab at race relations, but they're not fooling anyone. And the addition of the neighborhood-enveloping fires seems superfluous and silly.

"Lakeview Terrace" isn't a bad movie, but Jackson's temper can only carry it so far.

Rental Recommendation: Jackson was better in a domestic squabble with Ben Affleck in 2002's "Changing Lanes." Grade: B+

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