Samuel Jackson shines in predictable 'Terrace'

"Lakeview Terrace" - Samuel L. Jackson delivers his best performance in years as a racist Los Angeles cop who tries to drive out the interracial couple who just moved in next door on "Lakeview Terrace." I wish the rest of the film were as good.

Jackson plays Abel Turner, a world-weary cop struggling to raise two kids after the death of his wife. Abel gets along well with his fellow officers at work and the people in his neighborhood, which he protects with nightly foot patrols. But boy does he hate his new neighbors, Chris and Lisa, a happily married interracial couple played by Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington. The day they move in, Abel tries to make their lives so hellish that they'll move right back out.

Director (and Northwest suburban resident) Neil LaBute does a nice job early on digging into the thorny racial tensions that simmer under these characters. LaBute is a master at dramatizing everyday human cruelty (see his excellent films "In the Company of Men" and "The Shape of Things"), and he brings that skill to the suspenseful and provocative first third of "Lakeview Terrace." Jackson, meanwhile, turns what could have been another scenery-chewing performance into a nuanced portrait of a man in pain.

Then the mechanical thriller plot takes hold, and the film becomes a cliche-ridden, predictable Hollywood potboiler. Count this as a near-miss. The DVD includes a commentary with LaBute and Washington, deleted scenes and some decent making-of featurettes. (PG-13; Sony, $28.96)

"RocknRolla" (two-disc digital copy edition) - After a couple of cinematic disasters, Madonna's ex almost regains his mojo with "RocknRolla," a stylish gangster flick chock-full of working-class British accents, music-video visuals and a crackerjack performance from the great Tom Wilkinson. Writer-director Guy Ritchie delivers the hip, slangy dialogue and visual pyrotechnics he's known for - along with an astoundingly cool title sequence - but the story drags in the middle and the whole thing feels like a retread of Ritchie's first flick, "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels." The DVD comes with a Ritchie commentary and a nice pair of featurettes that look at Ritchie's unique cinematic take on the city of London. The second disc includes a downloadable copy of the film. (R; Warner Home Video, $34.99)

"Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired" - Filmmaker Marina Zenovich takes a fascinating and remarkably evenhanded look at the infamous Roman Polanski sex case in the new documentary "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired." Polanski, at the time one of Hollywood's most respected directors ("Rosemary's Baby," "Chinatown"), was arrested in 1977 and charged with giving drugs to a 13-year-old girl and having unlawful sex with her. After a bizarre court case, Polanski fled the country before his final sentencing and hasn't returned since. Zenovich doesn't apologize for Polanski's actions - new interviews with Polanski's victim and her lawyer are included here - but her exploration of his court case, particularly the self-promoting antics of the late Judge Laurence Rittenband, raises questions about whether Polanski received a fair trial. The film also indirectly comments on the conduct of the press at the time, which covered Polanski with the same lack of restraint demonstrated during the O.J. Simpson trial. Seek this documentary out. The DVD comes with two hours of additional interviews. (NR; Image Entertainment, $27.98)

Also out this week - Woody Allen's "Vicky Christina Barcelona," which I reviewed last week, is a sparkling return to form for this auteur. No special features are included on the DVD, but the movie offers plenty of enjoyment by itself.