Tell me if this sounds familiar: A man is stuck inside his home with nothing to do. He entertains himself by watching his neighbors through his window. One night he witnesses some suspicious activity, and believes a murder has occurred. He enlists his friends in his investigation, but they soon discover that someone is watching them and their lives may be in danger.
The above is a description of the 1954 Hitchcock classic Rear Window. It is also a description of Disturbia.
Comparisons between the two are inevitable and unavoidable, but Disturbia manages to rise above the snide remarks about being a teenaged remake of the earlier film. It's true that the bones of the movie aren't completely original, but good acting and smart pacing make it worth seeing.
A year after the death of his father in a car accident, Kale (Shia LaBeouf) is still reeling from the trauma. In response he acts out in school and at home, and is placed under house arrest during his summer break after punching one of his teachers.
While his exasperated mother, Julie (Carrie-Anne Moss), is working and his friend, Ronnie (Aaron Yoo), is out of town, Kale tries to fight the boredom that is consuming his life. Thus he begins watching his neighbors, especially Ashley (Sarah Roemer), who has just moved in next door.
Another neighbor begins to attract Kale's attention: Mr. Turner (David Morse). As time passes, Kale notices that Mr. Turner is acting suspiciously, and he begins to investigate his neighbor with Ashley and Ronnie as accomplices. As Kale becomes convinced that Mr. Turner is a serial killer, he learns that his curiosity has threatened the lives of the people he loves. Disturbia culminates in a hair-raising showdown, much like the earlier Jimmy Stewart film. The resolution is a satisfying payoff after an hour and a half of nail-biting.
While Jimmy Stewart had to act from the confines of a wheelchair, LaBeouf has to overcome the stigma of his Disney past. Only a few years ago LaBeouf was known as Louis Stevens, the buffoonish youngest child on the Disney Channel's Even Stevens. Kale is a very different character than Louis, but LaBeouf has no trouble making him someone that the audience can sympathize with. Throughout the film Kale is at times friendly, desperate, belligerent, horrified and bored out of his mind, and LaBeouf is able to portray all of these emotions believably.
The supporting cast also gives a strong performance. Yoo provokes a lot of laughter with his one-liners, and Roemer manages to look pretty while acting amused or terrified. Morse is extremely successful in creating the creepy and slimy Mr. Turner, though some of that could be because of his tiny gray ponytail and ear piercing.
There were only a few moments in the film that were frightening enough to cause verbal reactions from the audience. In these scenes the actors made some predictably stupid moves during life-threatening situations.
Though there is a harrowing climax, the investigation of Kale's neighbor is more important. The inherent excitement of voyeurism and the deadly seriousness of the crimes are conveyed through the jerky handheld cameras of the characters and Psycho-esque score, which are punctuated by calculated shocks.
The strength of Disturbia is in its well-chosen cast and its suspenseful build toward the finish. It may be a rehash of a classic piece of film history, but it's certainly an entertaining one.
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