Post-Sept. 11 jitters get a workout in “Civic Duty,” a contained little thriller (most of the action takes place around an apartment complex) that commits the fatal crime of pretentiousness.
Out-of-work accountant Peter Krause (“Six Feet Under”) is pacing around his apartment one night when he notices the new neighbor (Khaled Abol Naga) across the courtyard. What’s this guy doing taking garbage out in the middle of the night, or loading mysterious boxes dropped off by suspicious characters?
Krause is a 24-hour cable news junkie, bombarded by terrorism alerts, and the new neighbor is clearly Middle Eastern. Krause’s sensible wife (appealing Kari Matchett) dismisses the idea and suggests her husband should keep looking for a job.
But that would be too easy. He does go to the FBI, in the form of a placid agent played by “West Wing” star Richard Schiff. But the bureau is hamstrung by bureaucracy and a lack of evidence.
“Civic Duty” builds to a confrontation between voyeur and suspect, by which point we’ve gotten used to the idea that the accountant is losing his marbles. But the movie has lost its marbles too.
If this movie worked at all, it would give us a fair chance to suspect that the man downstairs might really be up to something awful. In movies such as “Rear Window” and “Disturbia,” we’re in doubt for a while. Through Krause’s eyes, we watch some strange things going on, but we’re already prejudiced against this unlikable and clearly paranoid guy.
By the time we reach an argument between the two men that compares the U.S. and the radical Islamic world (“What about Vietnam?”), the movie has shifted into something like Spike Lee at his most hectoring.
Also annoying is director Jeff Renfroe’s nervous-nellie style, with a hyperactive camera. Maybe the idea is to jazz up the constricted location, but if the movie is working, you shouldn’t have to dose the cameraman with Red Bull.
Peter Krause is a stolid presence who gives the impression of being too tall to fit into his body. Egyptian star Abol Naga easily out-acts him – yet another way this movie is unfairly stacked.
Peter Krause and Khaled Abol Naga star in “Civic Duty.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
