At first glance, you’d actually consider Neil LaBute’s upcoming “Lakeview Terrace” a film which deals with racism, but, as the storyline develops, it becomes evident that the black and white thing is only an introduction to the real plot-center: the misuse and desperate need of power.

And if you also take into account the fact that Samuel L. Jackson’s last roles have been all about the guns and expletives, you’d wish his “Lakeview Terrace” persona would make a difference. Unfortunately, it does not help the actor at all, as it follows the same path of clear-cut drama, pressure and a bit of violent behavior.

Patrick Wilson (“Running with Scissors”) fills the shoes of Chris Mattson, who just moved into a California neighborhood together with his wife, Lisa, played by Kerry Washington (Nikki Tru from “I Think I Love My Wife”). The couple’s next-door neighbor, Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson) is a widower cop who lives with his two kids, so what can be safer than having a police officer living nearby? Well… anything, if you ask me.

We initially discover Abel’s problem with the couple when he is shown watching them obsessively while they kiss each other. The look on his face immediately rings a bell and that bell says that he dislikes (or, more precisely, hates) interracial couples. Thus, he is not subtle at all in letting them know.

Abel starts the ball rolling immediately and, on the Mattsons’ first night in the neighborhood, the cop acts as if he was intending to rob Chris, to subsequently tell his neighbor that he was only trying to teach him how to defend himself.

However, further intrusions point to the fact that Abel is not well intended. When Chris offers to help the cop with repairing his vehicle’s engine, the neighbor’s tool apparently slips and cuts Chris’ hand. In addition to this, other so-called accidents keep on coming and become more and more upsetting. The couple’s air conditioning bafflingly stops working, their car’s tires are slashed and Abel seems to know nothing. The newlyweds get scared and start regretting the fact that they decided to move to this neighborhood, while Abel makes it evident that he dislikes them as a couple.

He keeps on telling Chris that listening to rap music cannot make him black by any means and that he wishes he could just speak his mind about the relationships between certain people.

Samuel L. Jackson does make for a nerve-racking character and he’s not bad at all in doing so. Nevertheless, “Lakeview Terrace” permanently seeks an explanation for Abel’s actions, which need no elucidation, as human mind is often unapproachable. The storyline chips away at the intrigue, depicting a blown up image of racism.

While the characters of “Terrace” are pleasant, such as Chris’s funny side and dry humor when contending with Abel’s comments, the movie itself is so overcooked that it sometimes becomes very hard to fall for. Everything grows to be unbelievable, particularly Abel, whose psychological side is reduced to a single trait: violence.