Good Neighbors 2010

I came across this unknown to me movie the other day at the library and I thought for free I’ll take my chances. This is a good little Canadian Noir like thriller directed by Jacob Tierney who I realized is also an actor and who as a young boy appeared in Terence Davies’s tableau like film “The Neon Bible” and as I remember  gave a heartbreaking and moving performance. Anyway this film which is set in Montreal in 1995 takes place mostly in the very nice and spacious apartments of 3 young tenants (two men and a woman) on the eve of the 2^nd referendum on the separation of Quebec, while at the same time a raging maniac serial killer is going about raping and killing young women. The villain of the film is pretty obvious early on, but Tierney and his writers have several twists, turns, tricks and good surprises up their sleeves that will make you shiver and chuckle at the same time. There are cats, tropical fish, Chinese restaurants (where the young woman works), an awful neighbor, a nice gay couple who make a brief appearance without any fanfare or fuss, a landlady who decorates the lobby with Halloween and Christmas decorations and takes them down immediately after the holidays and dark and scary night time walks along deserted streets.  The cast was unknown to me, but I did recognize the very fine character actor Gary Farmer who made a strong impression on me in Dead Man playing Nobody, and in this film plays a detective. References to Rear Window abound and there are plenty of plot holes and loose ends but I did have a good time with this one and it says a lot that I didn’t wind up throwing the dvd case at my television.