1999, 1 hr 55 min., Rated R for violence and some language. Dir: Mark Pellington. Cast: Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins, Hope Davis, Joan Cusak.

How did you feel the moment you heard or saw the Oklahoma City bombing five years ago? Anger? Sadness? Scared? Denial? Combinations of all of those? Arlington Road attempts to draw these emotions from you again, so if you're looking for happy-go-lucky summer movie fare, then please head to the next theater because Arlington Road is NOT the feel good movie of the year.

My first reaction to the Okla. City bombing was shock. Then I started to curse the foreign terrorist SOB who must have been responsible. You can imagine how much more shock entered my system when I learned it was someone born and raised in the U.S.A. who committed the worst act of terrorism on our soil. How could an American kill so many other Americans, especially knowing there was a day care center full of kids on the bottom floor?

What drives someone to such a horrible act? Do they believe it actually helps their cause? Or do they have revenge on the mind? Arlington Road offers a bit of a reason, but in the end all I could think was that these people were already on the edge of insanity before the government "drove" them to commit such atrocities.

PLOT: Jeff Bridges is an American History teacher who has a class in American Terrorism, focusing on those so-called extreme right-wing groups and the government. Bridges' wife, an FBI agent, was killed a few years before in a botched raid, and Bridges blames the agency for her death. His new neighbors, Tim Robbins and Joan Cusak, have a son the same age as Bridges, and as they grow to be close friends Bridges begins to wonder if his neighbors are in fact responsible for terrorism in the past and may be planning another attack on the government. Is it paranoia from teaching such a frightening subject, or is there really trouble brewing?

The acting is fine, nothing to write home about but at least stable. Robbins was, as usual, the best part of the film with Cusak a close second. Too bad Bridges is the lead because I've never much cared for his style. His girlfriend, played by Hope Davis, helps keep him grounded, though, and therefore kept me from hating his character.

I was a bit annoyed that my namesake, Jeff, spends most of the time freaking out, yelling or running or pulling his hair out under duress. And the guy is the worst amateur undercover investigator ever on screen. For instance, if you're sneaking into Robbins' study to look for information on the premise that you're using the phone, then at least pick up the stinking phone and call Information to keep an air of believability!

The ending is definitely quite a surprise. Even with the buzz I'd been reading on the web, I was expecting something else. I'll agree with two gentlemen I overheard in the bathroom who argued that the specifics are a tad far-fetched, but I'm willing to stretch my touch with reality to accommodate the filmmakers.