Disturbingly Formulaic
By
Dan Hudak
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Disturbia could be a
bit more, well, disturbing. Photo by Jaimie Trueblood |
Poor,
misunderstood Kale. After his father dies in a horrific car
accident, the distraught teen punches out his antagonizing
Spanish teacher and is placed under house arrest for the
entire summer. The good news is that a gorgeous new
schoolmate has just moved in next door, and Kale’s got a
powerful pair of binoculars to keep a close eye on her. The
bad news is that he believes his other neighbor is a serial
killer, and he might just be right.
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Most scenes fall into
the all-too-familiar vein of typical thrillers, right
down to the random spewing of blood. |
If
parts of the premise to Disturbia sound familiar, that’s
because it’s based on Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954),
in which James Stewart’s L.B. “Jeff” Jefferies and Grace
Kelly’s Lisa Fremont correctly labeled one of his neighbors
as a murderer, while Jeff was confined to his apartment. (It
was also the plot of an episode of The Simpsons in which
Bart broke his leg and suspected Flanders
of being a murderer.)
Not
surprisingly, D.J. Caruso’s Disturbia doesn’t come close to
the quality or level of suspense offered by Hitchcock. After
Kale (Shia LaBeouf) befriends the hottie next door, Ashley
(Sarah Roemer), the two conspire with Kale’s friend Ronnie
(Aaron Yoo) to investigate whether the other neighbor
(played chillingly by David Morse) is the murder suspect on
television news reports. Danger ensues, and there’s enough
here to keep us interested until the painfully predictable
conclusion.
Although we like Kale and LeBeouf does a good job of keeping
the audience involved in the story, when Caruso abandons
Kale’s point of view the film gets into trouble. In Rear
Window we only saw the story through Jeff’s perspective,
and, without the aid of technology, the scene in which Lisa
is in the murderer’s apartment is one of the best in
Hitchcock’s canon.
In
contrast, when Ronnie investigates suspected murderer Robert
Turner’s garage, he is carrying a cell phone and small
digital camera to allow Kale to know exactly what’s
happening. The added information does a notable disservice
to the suspense by allowing us to see and hear what’s
happening. The scene would have more tension if Kale
couldn’t keep an eye on Ronnie. Our fear of the unknown is
generally more emotionally striking than the comfort of
knowledge.
With
a number of sequences that are a clear homage to Hitchcock,
Caruso pays ample respect to the man whose films have
enabled this movie to exist. But let’s be honest: Comparing
a modern thriller with few aspirations to a Hitchcock
classic when he was on the cusp of his greatest creative
period (during which he made Vertigo, North by Northwest,
Psycho and The Birds) can only lead to unsatisfying foregone
conclusions.
But
even on its own terms, Disturbia is not a success. Although
parts of the film are an engaging vision of middle-class
boredom in suburban America, most scenes fall into the
all-too-familiar vein of typical thrillers, right down to
the random spewing of blood and gratuitous shots of Roemer
(a former model) in a bikini. This may be a remake of one of
Hitchcock’s finest, but the story elements seem borrowed
from a tacky ‘80s horror flick.
If
this is the Rear Window of the 21st century, troubling times
lie ahead.
Comments? E-mail
dhudak22@yahoo.com.
|
Disturbia **
Directed by D.J. Caruso. Written by Christopher B.
Landon and Carl Ellsworth. Starring Shia LaBeouf, Sarah
Roemer, Carrie-Anne Moss, David Morse, Aaron Yoo. Rated
PG-13.
**** A genuine must-see
*** Entertaining
** Mediocre but not worthless
* A wretched waste of time
Also opening in Miami-Dade
County
this Friday: Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for
Theaters, Avenue Montaigne, Pathfinder, Perfect
Stranger. |