Disturbia

I love thrillers. Unfortunately, there are lots of thrillers out there and only a small percentage actually thrill me. It could be that I’m very picky (which is quite likely) or that Hollywood likes to send out a lot of “thrillers”, especially those aimed at the coveted 18-24 demographic, that are pretty much just recycled, poorly made crap (which is even more likely). To be honest, I had preconceived notions about Disturbia before I even sat down – target audience of young men, plot almost entirely recycled from Rear Window, gimme a break. But as much to my surprise as anyone else’s, this is not a bad movie at all. In fact, I quite liked it.

The plot of Distrubia really is essentially an adolescent Rear Window, complete with hormones and girls in bikinis. But to its credit it has a touch more substance than one might expect. The movie opens with Kale (Shia LeBeouf) and his father doing some fly fishing. It’s a corny and trite moment, but does its job – showing us that Kale is pretty much a good kid who has a good relationship with his father. As they return home, they’re in an automobile accident. Now this is a short scene, even though it sets up the character of Kale for the rest of the film. For its brevity, it’s fantastically staged. The accident is lightning fast and both the situation and the effects used to show the action are very, very good. Not a big scene, but one with a level of visual quality that increases the emotional impact and sets a standard for the rest of the film. Right away we know that more care was taken here than in most teen thriller/horror movies.

After the accident we jump immediately to a full year later. Kale has become a troubled kid, understandably, but an abrupt (and again, very well staged and executed) act of violence lands him in court where he is sentenced to house arrest, complete with ankle bracelet, by a judge whose compassion is just about to run out. So Kale has now become Jimmy Stewart – confined to his home with lots of time to fill. Since his mother (Carrie-Anne Moss) has disconnected him from most of his mind and soul numbing electronics, he begins to take an interest in his surroundings. Specifically, he’s interested in the pretty girl moving in next door and the quiet neighbor who only emerges to mow his lawn. It’s all fun and games and boredom and sloth and a really, really messy room until he begins to think that his lawn mowing neighbor may just be a little more than he seems.

So how can writers Christopher Landon and Carl Ellsworth and director DJ Caruso possibly make this anything more than a cheap, hormonally charged rehash of far superior material with far superior acting talent? Well, truthfully, they can’t. There aren’t a lot of plot point surprises here. Between the foreshadowing within the film itself and the Rear Window connection we pretty much know what we’re likely to get. There are some storyline surprises, including the fun and creepy basic nature of Mr. Turner (our potential villain played by David Morse). We also get a main character who, while embodying many of the stereotypical “troubled teen with a heart” traits, still manages to be entertaining and feel at least minimally real.

The actors are truly being asked to do the impossible. They can’t make Rear Window. But they all do a passable job with the material as it is – no one here is trying to channel the past, they accept the story as is and give their characters some substance. The filmmakers go to some lengths to make Carrie-Anne Moss look frumpy and succeed admirably, allowing her to play grieving, struggling wife as well as completely exasperated mother fairly well. Not saying she’s Meryl Streep, but she does the job.

The best acting comes from the team of Shia LeBeouf and David Morse. Again, we’re not talking about Oscar material, but these are the two who achieve and maintain the suspense of the film. LeBeouf makes Kale likable and sympathetic, but not too much so. We understand his mother’s frustration, as well as that of the judge, as much as we understand his change after the accident. LeBeouf is growing into a pretty good adult actor after being terrific as a young teen in Holes. I particularly like his ability to look and act scared and his feel for comic relief. Morse is just damned creepy – it’s fabulous. He seems to have lost his neck somewhere along the way and that combined with his hideous long hair and disarming watery blue eyes gives his every expression, even the most benign, an edge that makes us want to get away from him. He plays the look for all it’s worth, making Mr. Turner an excellent suspect for a bored, troubled young man playing at vicarious living.

My biggest complaint is the throw-away character of Ashley (Sarah Roemer) – requisite pretty girl next door who isn’t as innocent as she looks. It’s blatant (and probably successful) pandering to teenage boys and truly adds absolutely nothing to the story. Her presence actually dilutes the suspense with a sexual tension without foundation. This isn’t Porky’s, people – the Ashley character should have stayed at her house next door. The ending also devolves into an action-packed, confusing sequence that doesn’t entirely make sense. It’s exciting, to be sure, and in this kind of movie it is entirely expected. It isn’t innovative or original, but it wraps things up without being actively horrible.

Disturbia has some very good qualities – fine performances from the male leads, good build-up and maintenance of suspense and despite a lack of originality, if you’re going to rip something off, it might as well be something as malleable as the basic material of Rear Window. The target demographic for Disturbia, by and large, have likely never seen Rear Window, and this will be a fresh scenario. The chaotic ending and the unnecessary girl next door don’t help the film as a whole, but don’t ruin it either. It’s a young thriller made with some care and skill, resulting in a fairly entertaining (if rather lightweight) entry into the genre. Recommended for fans of either lead male or thrillers in general.