Arlington Road(1999)

POOPER: (Thanks Curt…The Grand Poop-Bah!)
Michael Faraday’s (Jeff Bridges’) neighbor IS a terrorist, and dupes him into transporting the bomb that blows up the FBI building.

Long Version:
When Brooke (Hope Davis) is killed and Michael (Jeff Bridges) finds out about it on the news -it appears as an unfortunate road accident- after her brief encounter with Cheryl (Joan Cusack) at the mall, he is distraught and falls into a depression. However, Whit (Robert Gossett) calls to check up on him, wondering why he didn’t answer his voicemail message, and Michael’s suspicions arise again, both from noticing someone atop the telephone pole across from his house and the fact that he did not find any voicemail messages -it becomes obvious this guy was part of Oliver’s (Tim Robbins) crew and tampered with his line to get rid of the messages beforehand-.

Michael asks Whit to search about those erased messages and to dig into a possible FBI record about Oliver, based on the clues he had previously caught on him. He also takes a trip to St. Louis to meet with Archer Scobee (Stanley Anderson), father of the late Dean Scobee, who was officially pinpointed as the “one-man-alone” mastermind of the terrorist attack against the Federal St. Louis Building -from where the Langs had moved to Virginia-. Dr. Scobee asserts that, despite what the investigation and the media agreed upon, his son was innocent and the victim of a setup, especially because, due to his involvement with Scout-like youth troops, he would have never knowingly harmed the children from the daycare facility at the building. Michael sees a photo of Dean and his troop and is horrified to spot Oliver’s son, Brady (Mason Gamble), on it, and rushes to pick up Grant (Spencer Treat Clark) from their camp, only to be told that Grant was already retrieved by Oliver’s people.

Panicked, Michael rushes back and bursts into Oliver’s house, while he and Cheryl are holding what appears to be a party with their crew. When Michael confronts him about Grant’s whereabouts, Oliver menacingly confirms his hand in Brooke’s death and hints that he might have actually been the one who killed the original Oliver Lang from whom he took his name; he also refuses to disclose where Grant is and warns him of dire consequences should the authorities find out.

In an increasing state of paranoia and now acting visibly erratic, Michael reacquaints with Whit, who confirms that there was nothing out of the ordinary about Oliver or his life and activities, and that the missed message came from a payphone. At the same time, noticing his agitated behaviour, Whit advises Michael to stop teaching that Terrorism class because it seems to be affecting his psyche, as it riles up his bad memories of the Bridal Creek siege incident in which his FBI agent wife Leah (Laura Poe) -also Whit’s former partner- was killed on the line of duty.

Undeterred by his suspicions, Michael secretly rents a car and drives to the mall from which Brooke called him; while there, he spots an exchange of metal boxes between Oliver’s people. He follows the van around closely and, while at a stoplight, Grant suddenly pops up through the back window, which unhinges Michael and makes him manically follow the van, leading to an alleyway between buildings where Oliver intercepts him and violently pulls him from the car.

It is here that, after beating him up and grilling him over his previous warning, Oliver finally discloses his intentions: he and his crew are a radical right-wing group bent on carrying an ongoing message against their perceived cruelty and corruption of the Federal Government. Moreover, their current target is the FBI Building, which Oliver gloats, would also be a favour to Michael “for them sending Leah to her death”. Michael manages to overpower Oliver and fight back against him and, seeing he is undaunted in his crusade, runs off to try and prevent the terrorist attack from taking place, while Oliver calmly stays behind and radioes the rest of the crew to “get it done”.

Michael rushes dangerously and illegally around Washington, following the van all the way to the underground parking facility of the FBI Building, where two Security guards try to stop him. Whit comes to his assistance -Michael having frantically called him about the pending strike, minutes prior, and Whit, in turn, having warned Security- and Michael fights his way to the van, only to see in shock that it was not the same guy he had been following and the back of the van was empty and clear. Whit tries to reassure Michael that there is nothing out of the ordinary going on and that “everyone there was authorized EXCEPT HIM”. At that same time, the actual original guy Michael was pursuing is seen dropping off Brady, safe and sound, with Brady and the Troop Master at another location.

Michael, then, having a bad feeling, rushes back to his car and opens the trunk, discovering a bomb in it, just as it is detonated remotely. The building is partly destroyed in a colossal explosion, while Oliver watches, elated, from a rooftop afar. The attack’s aftermath, and a sequence of news clips, follow, where, slowly, we come to see how the narrative built around Michael evolves from him being a fall guy to this terrible act to a paranoid, vengeful conspirator who had a long-standing grudge against the FBI because of what happened to Leah -all this supported from testimonies, including one from a former female student of his who happened to be a mole from Oliver’s terrorist group-. Additionally, Whit is shown as one of the almost 200 people killed in the attack.

Eventually, it is made official that, just like the Langs were able to successfully frame Dean in St. Louis, they have done it with Michael, now vilified as “one man, acting alone” as the author of the FBI Building incident. Oliver is seen burning a set of documents, pictures and papers related to Michael, presumably to assume his identity, and Grant, now left orphan, departs to live elsewhere with relatives, carrying the burden of the actions unwillingly bestowed upon his father.

The last scene shows Oliver and Cheryl having put their house up for sale, watching Michael’s house, abandoned and sealed, and commenting on moving to “some other place nicer and safer”, hinting they will do it all over again and groom another unsuspecting patsy for their next hit.