History Film / ArlingtonRoad

* ClearMyName: [[spoiler:Averted with Dean Scobee, the Lang's fall guy for the St. Louis IRS bombing. In any other movie, Michael would've proved the Lang's guilt and proved him innocent. Instead, Michael fails and becomes a fall guy himself, with the world still believing Dick to be a lone-wolf terrorist.]]

* DeceasedFallGuyGambit: The Lang's frame-ups of Michael Faraday and Dean Scobee for the FBI and St. Louis bombings only work because they are killed in the attacks, preventing them from pointing the authorities in the Langs direction.

* ClearMyName: [[spoiler:Averted with Dick Scobee, the Lang's fall guy for the St. Louis IRS bombing. In any other movie, Michael would've proved the Lang's guilt and proved him innocent. Instead, Michael fails and becomes a fall guy himself, with the world still believing Dick to be a lone-wolf terrorist.]]

* DeceasedFallGuyGambit: The Lang's frame-ups of Michael Faraday and Dick Scobee for the FBI and St. Louis bombings only work because they are killed in the attacks, preventing them from pointing the authorities in the Langs direction.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:And how! Michael, Whit, and almost two-hundred others die in the bombing of the J. Edgar Hoover Building, and Michael is posthumously framed for the attack by the actual culprits, the Lang's, who get away with everything. Michael's failure also means Dick Scobee's name remains besmirched. Grant survives, but now his would-be stepmother and his father have both died, and he now has to live with relatives, never knowing his father was framed and wrongly living with the stigma of being the son of the man responsible for the worst terrorist attack in American history.]]

* WouldHurtAChild: Zigzagged by the BigBad; played straight by the FBI during the siege that took the life of Michael's wife (well, the kid was armed to be fair).

* HeroWithBadPublicity: [[spoiler:Michael not only dies in the bombing he tried to stop, but is posthumously framed for it, going down in history as the mastermind of the worst terrorist attack in American history (the film came out 2 years before 9/11).]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:And how! Michael, Whit, and almost two-hundred others die in the bombing of the J. Edgar Hoover Building, and Michael is posthumously framed for the attack by the actual culprits, the Lang's, who get away with everything. Michael's failure also means Dick Scobee's name remains besmirched. Grant survives, but now his would-be stepmother and his father have both died, and he now has to live with relatives, never knowing his father was framed and wrongly living with the stigma of being the son of the terrorist responsible for the worst terrorist attack in American history.]]

* ClearMyName: [[spoiler:Averted with Dick Scobee, the Langs fall guy for the St. Louis IRS bombing. In any other movie, Michael would've proved the Lang's guilt and proved him innocent. Instead, Michael fails and becomes a fall guy himself, with the world still believing Dick to be a lone-wolf terrorist.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:And how! Michael, Whit, and almost two-hundred others die in the bombing of the J. Edgar Hoover Building, and Michael is posthumously framed for the attack by the actual culprits, the Langs, who get away with everything. Michael's failure also means Dick Scobee's name remains besmirched. Grant survives, but now his would-be stepmother and his father have both died, and he now has to live with relatives, never knowing his father was framed and wrongly living with the stigma of being the son of the terrorist responsible for the worst terrorist attack in American history.]]

* HeroWithBadPublicity: [[spoiler:Michael not only dies in the bombing he tried to stop, but is posthumously framed for it, going down in history as the mastermind of the worst terrorist attack in American history (the film came out 2 years before 9/11).]]

* HeKnowsTooMuch: The reason why the Langs want to kill Michael.

* ClearMyName: [[spoiler:Averted with Dick Scobee, the Langs fall guy for the St. Louis IRS bombing. In any other movie, Michael would've proved the Lang's guilt and proved him innocent. Instead, Michael fails and becomes a fall guy himself, with the world still believing Dick to be a lone-wolf terrorist.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:And how! Michael, Whit, and almost two-hundred others die in the bombing of the J. Edgar Hoover Building, and Michael is posthumously framed for the attack by the actual culprits, the Langs, who get away with everything. Michael's failure also means Dick Scobee's name remains besmirched. Grant survives, but now his would-be stepmother and his father have both died, and he now has to live with relatives, never knowing his father was framed and wrongly living with the stigma of being the son of the terrorist responsible for the worst terrorist attack in American history.]]

* ClearMyName: Averted with Dick Scobee, the Langs fall guy for the St. Louis IRS bombing, the film ends with the world still believing him to be a lone-wolf terrorist.

* DeceasedFallGuyGambit: The Langs frame-ups of Michael Faraday and Dick Scobee and for the FBI and St. Louis bombings only work because they are killed in the attacks, preventing them from pointing the authorities in the Langs direction.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:And how! Michael, Whit, and almost two-hundred others die in the bombing of the J. Edgar Hoover Building, and Michael is posthumously framed for the attack by the actual culprits, the Langs, who get away with everything. Grant survives, but now his would-be stepmother and his father have both died, and he now has to live with relatives, never knowing his father was framed and wrongly living with the stigma of being the son of a terrorist.]]

* HaveYouToldAnyoneElse: The Langs manage to evade suspicion for the FBI bombing due to everyone who Michael voiced his suspicions to and those who were with him in the FBI garage and heard him yelling his son's name being killed in or prior to the bombing.

* DeceasedFallGuyGambit: The Langs frame-up of Michael for the FBI bombing only works because he is killed in the attack, preventing him from pointing the authorities in the Langs direction.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:And how! Michael, Whit, and almost two-hundred others die in the bombing of the FBI HQ, and Michael is posthumously framed for the bombing by the actual culprits, the Langs, who get away with everything. Grant survives, but now his would-be stepmother and his father have both died, and he now has to live with relatives, never knowing his father was framed.]]

* ForWantOfANail: While the Langs organization might still have targeted the J. Edgar Hoover Building regardless, had the FBI not screwed up at Copper Creek, they might never have targeted Michael as their fall guy as there would be no forged motive without Leah Faraday's death. Of course, Leah, Whit, and Michael if he was visiting Leah at the offices might still have died in the bombing. In addition, Brooke would still be alive as she and Michael would never have started a relationship had Leah lived.

* ParentalAbandonment: Poor, POOR Grant Faraday. First, his mother Leah was killed in a failed FBI mission. [[spoiler: Then, Brooke, his would-be-stepmom, is murdered by Cheryl Lang. Finally, his father Michael is killed in an explosion and is framed for it by the real culprits (the Langs), and Grant, now an orphan, is last seen being driven off to live with relatives.]]

* SuicideAttack: The Langs stage the IRS and FBI bombings as this.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:And how! Michael, Whit, and almost two-hundred others die in the bombing of the FBI HQ, and Michael is posthumously framed for the bombing by the actual culprits, the Langs, who get away with everything. Grant survives, but now his stepmother and his father have both died, and he now has to live with relatives, never knowing his father was framed.]]

* ForWantOfANail: While the Langs organization might still have targeted the J. Edgar Hoover Building regardless, had the FBI not screwed up at Copper Creek, they might never have targeted Michael as their fall guy as there would be no forged motive without Leah Faraday's death. Of course, Leah, Whit, and Michael if he was visiting the offices might still have died in the bombing. In addition, Brooke would still be alive as she and Michael would never have started a relationship had Leah lived.

* DeceasedFallGuyGambit: The Langs frame-up of Michael for the FBI bombing only works because he killed in the attack, preventing him from pointing the authorities in the Langs direction.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:And how! Michael, Carver, and hundreds of others die in the bombing of the FBI HQ, and Michael is posthumously framed for the bombing by the actual culprits, the Langs, who get away with everything. Grant survives, but now his stepmother and his father have both died, and he now has to live with relatives, never knowing his father was framed.]]

* HaveYouToldAnyoneElse: The Langs manage to evade suspicion for the FBI bombing due to everyone who Michael voiced his suspicions to and those who were with him in FBI garage being killed in or prior to the bombing.

* AdultFear: The BigBad takes Michael's son hostage, which is the point Michael goes off the deep end for fear of losing him.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/arlingtonroad_4191.jpg]]

* MissingMom: The professor's wife was revealed to be a former FBI agent killed in the line of duty, [[spoiler: which gives the BigBad the forged motive at the end. Also, Brooke, the professor’s new girlfriend, is murdered by the villains offscreen]].

* DownerEnding: [[And how! Michael, Carver, and hundreds of others die in the bombing of the FBI HQ, and Michael is posthumously framed for the bombing by the actual culprits, the Langs, who get away with everything. Grant survives, but now his stepmother and his father have both died, and he now has to live with relatives, never knowing his father was framed.]]

* CreepyMonotone: Oliver Lang

* DownerEnding

* MissingMom: The professor's wife was revealed to be a former FBI agent killed in the line of duty, [[spoiler: which gives the BigBad the forged motive at the end]].

* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:Not only were Michael's attempts at saving everyone unsuccessful, but he took the blame for everything posthumously.]]

* MonsterSobStory: Oliver's story of William Fennimore Sr. and the loss of his farm.

* BigBad: Tim Robbins could be seen as one since he seems to be the leader of his terrorist cell. It is also implied that he is subservient to a GreaterScopeVillain, however this is not directly referenced or mentioned on screen [[spoiler: at the end when they are packing up his wife says "I hope this time they send us somewhere nice", implying they are waiting for orders from the higher ups in their organization.]]

* DeadPersonImpersonation: [[spoiler:Oliver Lang was the name of the BigBad's best friend growing up. William Fenimore Jr. took his name when Oliver died at 25 to honor him, for his identity and to cover up the BigBad's past crimes.]]

** The BigBad [[spoiler: who's real name is William Fenimore, says his family farm went broke after the government 'appropriated' the river that ran through it 'for other uses' His father then killed himself and made it look like a tractor accident so the family could claim the life insurance. He left a note for William explaining everything. William built the pipe bomb to get back at the government.]] Although it's unclear if his story is true or nor.

* MissingMom: The Professor's wife was revealed to be a former FBI agent killed in the line of duty [[spoiler: which gives the BigBad the forged motive at the end]].

* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse

* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler:Michael]]
* WesternTerrorists:
* WouldHurtAChild: Zig-zagged by the BigBad; played straight by the FBI during the siege that took the life of Michael's wife. (Well, the kid was armed.)

* RightWingMilitiaFanatic: [[spoiler: The terrorists are implied to be this]].

* WesternTerrorists

* WouldHurtAChild: Zig-zagged by the BigBad; played straight by the FBI during the siege that took the life of Michael's wife. (Well, the kid was armed.)

* Foreshadowing: In one of his lectures, Michael discusses a terrorist attack perpetrated by a single individual with no ties to extremist organizations whatsoever, [[spoiler: which is how the terrorist attack at the end is made to look like. Moreover, Michael alone is blamed for it.]]

** The BigBad [[spoiler: who's real name is William Fenimore, says his family farm went broke after the government 'appropriated' the river that ran through it 'for other uses' His father then killed himself and made it look like a tractor accident so the family could claim the life insurance. He left a note for William explaining everything. William built the pipe bomb to get back at the government.]] although it's unclear if his story is true or nor.

* ConspiracyTheories: Discussed in-universe.