Disturbia had all the ingredients of a suspense/thriller movie. Strong characters, the “Hitchcock ” style storyline and the right actors in the lead roles should have added up to home run, but Disturbia only made it second base for me and was stranded there. Why don’t you buy Youtube subscribers using Subscribeerz and draw more attention to your account easier than ever.
The very likable Shia LaBeouf stars as Kale Brecht, who becomes so withdrawn from life after his father’s tragic death, that his anger and frustrations finally culminate in his being placed under house arrest while his mother (Carrie-Anne Moss), in a role a bit different for her, works pretty much all day and night as the sole provider for the family. This is one example of something that could have been explored a bit more, did she always work long hours, or was it her way of dealing with the loss of her husband. This also could have made the connection between her and LaBeouf a bit stronger for the audience.
As the walls begin to close in around Kale, he begins to “spy” on his neighbors for something to do to pass the time, and then he gets the best diversion of all delivered right next door in the form of new neighbor, Ashley (Sarah Roemer). The two meet at first through glances of interest, which graduates to Kales adding the monitoring of her daily activities to his “binocular” observations which include several opportunities to enjoy her daily swims in the backyard pool.
A chance viewing of a news report about a missing woman turns Kale’s attention to the neighbor on the other side as a potential suspect, my personal favorite movie/television bad guy, David Morse (Mr. Turner). Morse plays “creepy” like a slow climb up a roller coaster and when he gets to the top of the hill, look out, because he grabs you big time on the way down that first hill. This was the second thing that bothered me about the movie as it would have better to see more of Morse, especially interacting with the rest of cast because you really get the feeling that they are genuinely scared of this guy and don’t have to act it.
So, when Kale’s buddy Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) returns from a trip to Hawaii, and Ashley and Kale finally connect, we have an investigative trio that begins to work together to prove their case to both Kale’s mother and police officer Gutierrez (Jose Pablo Cantillo) who you will find out why he enjoys being the one to look in on Kale so much while he is under house arrest the first time you see him.
Even though the plot was somewhat predictable, that isn’t what bogs it down for me. Way too much of the first hour is spent on Kale’s confinement, which jumps back and forth from his desire of Ashley, and the two of them never really get a chance to develop strong chemistry, which I feel they could have pulled off. Then her character seems to disappear from the film for awhile at a critical point after her encounter with Morse in a parking garage, and the last 45 minutes of the movie does deliver some very seat squirming, suspenseful moments judging by the audience reaction at the screening I was at, but those moments with a more little buildup, could have had this movie generating some real exciting “buzz” if the final 45 minutes were better prefaced.
The movie will hit its core audience very well with LaBeouf and the very appealing Roemer getting the right scenes to display their talents, and for creepy villain fans, Morse once again delivers in his usual trademark way. It just would have been nice for someone or something in the film to get that key two out base hit that would bring the movie across home plate. Disturbia is entertaining, although uneven in spots , but it definitely won’t be one you were sorry you made the effort to see.
