Disturbia (2007)

Disturbed meets Suburbia best describes a movie with a distinct title. Like the rest of its predecessors, one might assume it is yet another edgy portrayal of teenagers alienated and growing up in middle-class neighborhoods. However, the film holds on to its title and proves to be a friendly teen thriller while still managing to portray more intelligence and style than its rivals. Disturbia boasts of an ‘edgy’ title, and so WITs contends.

It’s not strange to view a film like this debuting and performing particularly well considering the setting it was released in. It came out during a period of no major conflict in America, April, and thus was able to capture an audience for 3 weeks straight. While it pulls some punches with a total gross of over 80 million dollars, most of the fans for the film are kids in the states. And why shouldn’t they be? The iconic idea of the hero of this film being locked in his house with nothing to do because of an ankle monitor is the worst punishment ever. To sum it up, he is grounded, undisturbed.

Nevertheless, viewers with some degree of understanding of films will know that Disturbia is an unauthorized, painstaking remake of Rear Window. The similarities are, for the most part, done quite well. Shia LaBeouf is the ASBO version of James Stewart, with his court md tag and his Plaster cast and wheelchair, as itchy and restrictive as Stewart’s. David Morse takes on the role of Raymond Burr, the reclusive neighbor who may have killed a girl in his apartment and is now trying to woo Carrie-Anne Moss, who is playing LaBeouf’s widowed mother.

When it comes to unveiling suspense, director D. J. Caruso clearly is no Hitchcock, but who is? At times he allows too much tension to loosen too fast, resulting in a disappointing trip into horror cliches in the final stage. This said, he is a good deal better than his previous movies, the lukewarm The Salton Sea and abysmal Taking Lives, and his ticks his film along at a pace that will ensure that even ADD-addled teen students don’t have time to think beyond the screen. Caruso’s tone is more akin to the thriller-comedies of the ’80s, such as The ’Burbs or the more mature Goonies, than to the elegant nerve-twisting of Hitchcock.

Caruso’s strongest asset is how he lets his lead performer justify his presence on the top of every casting director’s list, regardless of him looking like a guy who would be better off as a bouncer at a bar rather than appearing on movie posters. Since his more recent film known as Holes, LaBeouf has been carving his name in the industry, managing to prove himself in blockbusters. If he manages to strike a balance between the two, there is no doubt he will be the go-to actor now that Tobey Maguire, Elijah Wood, and Jake Gyllenhaal, more recently, have stepped back from the industry.

LaBeouf saves the film from being a workmanlike snooze by his charm in Disturbia, facial expressions, and mannerisms, managing to turn a more predictable teenage flick into a teenage dream. The movie does deserve credit for its well-crafted but dialed back premise where Sarah Roemer plays the stereotypical love interest and Aaron Yoo is the overly exaggerated version of Kale’s friend. LaBeouf is the type of actor who can carry out horrible cinematic dialogue making it easier to bear.

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