The Good Neighbor Shames The Voyeur In All Of Us | An SXSW Film Review

Spying on your neighbor has been in fashion for decades. At some point, everyone has wondered what that odd single guy across the street is up to, what is that one family doing that requires mariachi music all night long, or why that weird kid across the way is always sneaking out of the house at 2 AM. We’ve all been there, and we all feel like we have justifiable reasons to stalk our home turf. We also seem to forget that whatever nefarious activity these people living adjacent to us are up to, we are just as guilty for eyeballing them at every turn.

“The Good Neighbor” (originally titled “The Waiting) takes innocent voyeurism and turns it on its head, as Ethan and Sean (Logan Miller and Keir Gilchrist) decide to plant cameras and devices – altering the temperature, causing doors to slam shut, etc. – throughout the house of their elderly neighbor, Mr. Grainey (James Caan), to both convince him he is being haunted and to film the entire event, cementing themselves as filmmakers of the future. The notion at first seems absurd – everything about this endeavor screams excessive jail-time –until you take a 5-minute stroll through YouTube and realize there are far more despicable acts being recorded every day, therefore this concept doesn’t stray too far from our current reality. As Ethan and Sean surveil Mr. Grainey, which includes a few ominous trips to the basement for hours at a time, they begin to suspect there may be more to their elderly neighbor than they ever thought possible.

Meshing both found-footage and traditional filmmaking while tweaking story elements of “Rear Window”, director Kasra Farahani does an admirable job of keeping us invested in both sides of the camera. We understand – however despicable – why these kids are torturing this poor man, while also remaining in a constant state of amped up curiosity on if Mr. Grainey is even worth sympathizing with. It’s a tricky tight-rope to walk, combining techniques this way. The film does suffer from found-footage fatigue – I have no doubt “The Good Neighbor” could have approached “Disturbia” levels of glee had they ditched much of this aesthetic – and there are several moments where the contrivances and coincidences dangle a little too close to the edge of ridiculous, but overall, Farahani manages to blend the styles together into one cohesive film.

While Miller and Gilchrist are much of the focus, James Caan proves why he is the draw. Holding little screen time, and even less dialogue, Caan accomplishes more in 30 minutes of screen time then most young actors drop in an entire season on The CW. Howard Grainey would be just another cranky old bastard with possible homicidal tendencies in a lesser actor’s hands, but by the end of “The Good Neighbor”, Caan has crafted an in-depth portrayal with layers of character development. He might be creeping up on his 80’s, but Caan’s talent is as spry as ever.

As a whole, the film might be a swing-and-a-miss with its loftier aspirations in showcasing how far youth will go to gain fame, yet there is no denying this is a fun genre piece with a stellar leading man showing the kids of today how acting with heart is done. In fact, after you spend some time with this “Good Neighbor”, you might second guess yourself the next time you feel the urge to yank those blinds down.