After films like “In the Company of Men,” “Your Friends & Neighbors” and “Nurse Betty,” filmmaker Neil LaBute seemed like a sure-fire rising star.

But that luster continues to fade with his latest directorial effort, “Lakeview Terrace,” a slowly paced film that wants to be a social commentary, until finally falling into standard thriller mode in the final act.

“Terrace” stars Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington as Chris and Lisa, an interracial couple who move into a prominent California neighborhood with big hopes and dreams of the future.

The happy ending quickly turns sour when the couple begins to clash with their neighbor Abel (Samuel L. Jackson), a widowed Los Angeles cop and strict father of two who disapproves of the couple’s relationship and will stop at nothing to force them to move out.

This is the kind of movie where the cast does its best, but still can’t save the project.

Jackson is pretty menacing as Abel, and has some nice moments, but he is handcuffed by a script that hints at exploring deeper issues only to cop out and turn his character into a cartoon villain.

For the most part, the material is right in LaBute’s wheelhouse (an unpleasant situation with characters that don’t always do or say the right thing), but the director can’t get the same sizzle he delivered in his previous work (granted, in those films LaBute also wrote the screenplay, while “Terrace” was written by David Loughery and Howard Korder). As a result, the movie falls into a rut of one tedious confrontation after another.

That would be excusable if the payoff worked, but even that falls flat – with Abel’s eventual downfall lacking that audience-cheering finish.

I give “Lakeview Terrace” credit for trying to be something that will have audiences talking, but quite honestly there is nothing in the film worth talking about – except maybe what happened to LaBute’s once promising career.

DVD dandy of the week

This week’s dandy is the raunchy but very funny “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” (B), the latest romantic comedy from the man behind “Knocked Up,” “Superbad” and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” Judd Apatow.

Apatow serves only as a producer for “Marshall,” but he has put his stamp on a film that has a lot of striking similarities to those other films, including the ability to make an audience laugh at will.

Jason Segal stars as Peter, a musician responsible for the music of a popular TV series that happens to star his girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell).

The romance comes to an abrupt end, much to Peter’s surprise, leaving him devastated and unsure how to recover.

He decides to take a Hawaiian vacation to deal with the break-up, but soon discovers that Sarah is staying at the same resort with her new boyfriend, a British pop singer named Aldous Snow (Russell Brand).

Segal also wrote the screenplay, which is full of smart, funny dialogue. And the cast is more than capable of getting the most out of the script.

Segal plays the lovable loser to perfection, while Bell is good as the ex and Mila Kunis is outstanding as an employee at the resort who becomes romantically involved with Peter.

There is some nice bit work too from Bill Hader and Apatow regulars Jonah Hill and Paul Rudd.

But the real discovery in “Marshall” is Brand, who steals every scene he is in as the flaky and eccentric Snow.

I’ll admit the film is probably a little too long, with several random scenes that don’t really seem to bring much to the plot. But the fact is most of those scenes are 100 times funnier than most of the comedies released in 2008, so it’s easy to overlook the film’s flaws.

Like “Knocked Up” and “Superbad,” “Sarah Marshall” is a film that manages to balance raunch and sweetness just enough to make it a worthy date movie and a perfect candidate for “guys who like movies,” as well.

“Forgetting Sarah Marshall” is rated R for sexual content, language and some graphic nudity and will be available Tuesday on DVD.

— Sportswriter/movie reviewer Micheal Compton, whose ears are still ringing from the dynamite blasts at nearby Cave Shrimp Stadium, won’t be answering the phone anytime soon. He can be reached, though, by e-mailing mcompton@bgdailynews.com.