Opening Day: 2 August 2007

Synopsis:

After his father's death, Kale (Shia LaBeouf) becomes sullen, withdrawn, and troubled - so much so that he finds himself under a court-ordered sentence of house arrest. His mother, Julie (Carrie-Anne Moss), works night and day to support herself and her son, only to be met with indifference and lethargy.

The walls of his house begin to close in on Kale. He becomes a voyeur as his interests turn outside the windows of his suburban home towards those of his neighbors, one of which Kale begins to suspect is a serial killer. But, are his suspicions merely the product of cabin fever and his overactive imagination?

Movie Review:

In the world where young movie goers recognise directors like Micheal Bay, Steven Speilberg and Jerry Bruichimer, there was once a visionary named Alfread Hichcock who brougt you a movie, Rear Window. Alas a few decades later a rampage of eminent remakes emerged as holywoods juices ran dry and then came Rear Window..i mean Disturbia. a much updated young crowd targeted film. But its been argued about that remakes aren't nessasarily be such a bad thing. As goes with this. Key plots may be the same but with substancial tweaking, i'll have to admit, it make a pretty entertaining flick.

Disturbia tells the story of a teenager name Kale (LaBeouf) who is sentenced to house arrest during the summer. Bored out of his mind, he takes to voyeurism with the neighbors. Things look up when the young hottie (Sarah Roemer) who just moved in next door comes over to make friends. However, things take a grisly turn when, while spying on his next door neighbor (David Morse), he sees evidence that the guy might be a serial killer.

Too many thrillers go too far too quickly these days. I’ve seen too many films this year already that splatter the screen with gore from the opening credits. Caruso, the director, resists this temptation with Disturbia. In fact, he pulls away from it so much that he achieves a fine level of modern suspense. The strength of Disturbia is its down-to-earth humor and well-conveyed atmosphere of his constrained life that builds up to the thrills. Most of the film builds up the quirky meanderings of a kid stuck in his home for an entire summer and isn't spent thrilling you every other moment. It's Shia LaBeouf that plays the role of Kale so well that you can almost feel the same as him, laughing louder and smiling more when he gets caught staring at Ashley or as he devises crazy schemes to pass the time and hit on her. Even the story itself, the lead up to the reveal and the progression of the characters is stronger than every other mundane and typical thriller. And when it finally gets to it, the film gears up into a full on thriller and still delivers.

David Morse makes a great villain. He’s played the heavy before, and he’s one of those rare actors that can sell me on both the good guy and the bad guy. I wish there was more of him in the movie. However, keeping with the “Rear Window” tradition, his screen time is somewhat scarce. Like Raymond Burr in the Hitchcock classic, we see most of Morse from afar. When we do get to see him act up close, it’s not enough for what he’s worth as an actor. Also worth saying is to see Carrie-Anne Moss back in mainstream film. After slumming it in the indies during “The Matrix” years, her career does not seem to have died with the character of Trinity. Moss has great screen presence, and she does the best with her role in “Disturbia.” Sadly, like David Morse, she’s not given something that really shows off her best acting. Among the great cast, Aaron Yoo stands out as Kale's wacky friend Ronnie who often joins him at his house and assists in the pursuit of love and entertainment. His comedy is so natural in all of the scenes and he hits hard with the biggest laughs. Ronnie is the best friend that every kid has had. There's also the incredibly attractive Sarah Roemer who stands out strongly enough to make me want to go back and watch it again and again just for her deceptive teases.

If you’re worried about the sanctity of Hitchcock’s classic being sullied you’re just going to have to get over it. Movies get remade. They always have and they always will. Even Hitchock himself remade his film The Man Who Knew Too Much. More than that, there have been some movies that were really great the second time around. The dialogue crackles, the suspense is palpable and LaBeouf makes for a surprisingly dashing choice to play a teenage action hero. I enjoyed myself immensely beginning to end, and definately gets the keys to take up immediate residence in my cinematic condominium of breezily satisfying delights.

Movie Rating:


(A homage to old-fashioned suspense films that delivers.)

Review by Lokman BS