Disturbia Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)April 11th, 2007
DISTURBIA
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2007 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): **
Although DISTURBIA's title will undoubtedly sucker in many horror movie fans, it is actually a teen thriller and not a very good one either. The by-the-numbers script is attributed to Christopher Landon and Carl Ellsworth, who have obviously watched THE GIRL NEXT DOOR and REAR WINDOW again and again, since they lifted so many scenes directly from these much better films.
Director D.J. Caruso (THE SALTON SEA) takes a script laced with one obvious moment after another and manages to make a predictable picture even more so with staging which telegraphs every twist and would-be frightening moment.
The setup for the plot is that a good kid named Kale (Shia LaBeouf) has gotten himself on the wrong side of the law. Although the judge should send Kale to juvie for decking his Spanish teacher in class, Kale is instead fitted with an ankle bracelet and sentenced to three months of house arrest. To make matters worse, his mean mother Julie (Carrie-Anne Moss) takes away his Xbox Live subscription and his iTunes account. She would probably have taken away his Netflix account too if that company had ponied up the cash for a product placement. Kale's friends are in universal agreement that his mother is hot --probably because they've all seen THE MATRIX -- but she actually looks pretty plain.
Kale's girl next door is a blonde named Ashley (Sarah Roemer). She's also a brunette, depending on where we are in the narrative. Just exactly like in THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, Ashley moves in soon after the movie begins. Continuing to rip off THE GIRL NEXT DOOR script, Kale and his nerdy buddy Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) begin to spy on her. And just like the previous picture, they think that they are busted when she leaves her house and rings Kale's doorbell.
Kale and Ronnie explain to Ashley that they've been spying on the outwardly mild-mannered Mr. Turner (David Morse). They are convinced that he is the serial killer who has been in the news lately. After all, he has an old Mustang with a dented bumper exactly like that of the killer. And, if that isn't a big enough hint, just like us, they've probably been inundated with the trailers for this movie which all but points a red arrow at Mr. Turner as a dastardly villain. Ugh.
The movie's biggest crime is how long the filmmakers drag out the inevitable last act, which is full of dead bodies and a killer that keeps almost killing the hero. Double ugh.
DISTURBIA runs a long 1:44. It is rated PG-13 for "appeal for sequences of terror and violence, and some sensuality" and would be acceptable for teenagers.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, April 13, 2007. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
