Director: Jeff Renfroe
Writer: Andrew Joiner
Cinematographer: Dylan MacLeod
Starring: Peter Krause, Khaled Abol Naga, Kari Matchett, Richard Schiff
Studio/Running Time: Landslide Pictures, 98 mins.
“Paranoia, big destroyer.”
-The Kinks
The fear of the unknown always makes for good cinema, and Alfred Hitchcock was the master of exploiting it. So maybe it’s not surprising that one of his best films, 1954’s Rear Window, is being emulated in two current movies. In Disturbia, released just last month, the protagonist spies on a neighbor whom he thinks is a serial killer. Civic Duty (released today), on the other hand, centers around one man’s experience in coping with today’s war on terror, all starting with a look out his window.
Terry Allen (Peter Krause) is not having a good week. After losing his job and being continually bombarded by news stories on 9/11, he witnesses some suspicious activities from a new “Middle Eastern” neighbor in his apartment building. In spite of his wife (Kari Matchett) telling him to mind his own business, Allen can’t resist, and takes his surveillance beyond window watching, following the neighbor in his car and even calling the FBI. Richard Schiff is excellent as the investigating agent who becomes increasingly irritated with Allen, and Khaled Abol Naga keeps us guessing as the possible terrorist. Civic Duty‘s finest moments come from watching Allen (star of HBO’s Six Feet Under) as he begins to cross the fine line between being a vigilant citizen and a meddling one. The inevitable confrontation between Naga’s character and Allen’s takes a fascinating turn. Now, if only the film’s non-committal, ambiguous ending was as interesting. Still, Civic Duty brings to mind that universal question: What would you do?