Movie Review by Nigel A. Messenger
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, David Morse, Sarah Roemer, Carrie-Anne Moss, Aaron Yoo
Director: D J Caruso
Once in a while a film comes along that really peaks your interest. Not because of a huge budget, controversy or any pre-release hype, but a buzz builds just because the story seems so intriguing. DISTURBIA is one of those films and I was really looking forward to it. So much so in fact that during the first fifteen minutes of the movie I began to sincerely doubt my expectations as after an extremely disturbing car crash, so well filmed it made me draw my breath and seeing a young mans depression in the aftermath, I thought this might not be the thriller I was expecting. But fortunately as the real story unfolded and the mood lifted with an injection of humour I was totally drawn in.
Kale (Shia LaBeouf) having been sentenced to house arrest for three months, enforced by an electronic ankle bracelet, is bored out of his mind, but slowly through observation through his family homes windows and with the aid of binoculars he discovers the real world equivalent of reality TV in his own neighbourhood.
To make things even more interesting a new family moves in next door with a very beautiful daughter Ashley (Sarah Roemer) who looks especially good wearing a bikini by the pool! Also Kale’s friend Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) returns from holiday and it’s not too long before they all get together and are hooked into the comings and goings of Kales newly discovered neighbourhood reality.
However it’s after watching a news report of a suspected serial killer in the area, already with a number of grisly murders under his belt, that Kale starts to notice one neighbour in particular (David Morse), a man obsessed with a perfect garden and a Mustang with a damaged fender, exactly as reported on TV.
This sets the movie up with a perfect REAR WINDOW style plot endangering the lives of Kale, Ashley, Ronnie and Kales mother Julie (Carrie Anne Moss).
DISTURBIA is a totally engrossing film that builds it’s pace slowly but surely to eventually put the viewer on the edge of their seat until it draws to it’s nail-biting conclusion. The film has virtually no obvious faults except perhaps one scene of a possible body in a cupboard, which in fact is a practical joke and for a moment threatens to break the suspense. However the stories real menaces and threats quickly draw you back into the movie putting only a slight glitch in the flow.
For all DISTURBIA’s menace and implied horror there is no real gore so to its credit the film is totally reliant on tight direction and convincing acting. This makes DISTURBIA one of this years ‘must see’ movies.
