“Welcome to the Neighborhood” is comprised of four short segments (“Party’s Over,” “Tattoos,” “Bark” and “Policing”) that have common characters and themes (being attracted to others, lying and so on). The first segment, “Party’s Over” (starring Anthony Michael Jones, Alicia Coppola and Tim DeKay), is a tense thriller that sets a high standard the rest of the film just can’t follow. If the other three stories were just as compelling there wouldn’t be much to complain about, but watching people f**k up their lives in the most ridiculous ways possible just isn’t very entertaining.
Despite very good actors (particularly Alicia Coppola and Tim DeKay), this isn’t a film that screams for attention. With a rewrite or two and an atmospheric overhaul, the three weaker vignettes could catapult this feature into something worthy of an audience’s time. Until that happens, KDI Films should release “Party’s Over” as a short film and scrap the rest.
