Really, in terms of stars, the creators of “Lakeview Terrace” managed to select well with actors Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Wilson (“The Phantom of the Opera”), and Kelly Washington (“Ray”) in the lead rolls, along with the well-known Will Smith (“I, Robot”) as one of the producers, there’s no use denying that there is a talented group at work here.

Unfortunately, the film falls short of everything else.

Jackson plays Abel Turner, a no-nonsense cop with a definite “my-way or the high way” attitude, who tries everything in his power to frighten off Chris and Lisa Mattson (played by Wilson and Washington), an interracial couple who have just moved in next-door.

What follows is a rather tedious yet twisted Battle of the Macho Men: Turner being creepily obsessive in his plot to force out the new neighbors, and Mattson too stubborn to do so.

This battle seems to drag on for ages to the point of boredom, so that by the time the pacing finally picks up you wonder what took so long.

To be fair, however, I’ll admit while the acting was not superb, it could have been a whole lot worse. The exchanges between Jackson and Wilson’s characters were at least interesting, but again, often times seemed to run around in circles. Meanwhile, Washington and Wilson appear to have barely enough chemistry to a believable married couple, yet are still comfortable enough where you don’t want to go away everythime they’re in a scene together.

You kind of get the feeling that the film might have originally been a comedy idea with a secret racial message, then the writers examined at the disastrous results of comedy films featuring neighborhood squabbling – i.e. 2006’s lame holiday film, “Deck the Halls” – and decided to make it into a weak drama.

And it’s obvious the movie takes itself very seriously, with its rather morbid background music and solemn way the actors – particularly Jackson – recites their lines. Yet, perhaps because of this supposed gravity a majority of those at the screening were laughing every other line. It was almost too serious to take it seriously.

This muddled tone makes the whole thing almost confusing to watch, and walking out of the theatre I wasn’t quite sure what I was supposed to feel. Most likely, someone more intelligent than me will be able to interpret this film better than I can, but for the rest of us, save your money and wait until it’s on DVD.

Kyrie Eberhart can be reached at [email protected]