Disturbia (2007) **

Rating: 5/10 (6 May 2007)

I was underwhelmed by this highly-touted film. It's yet another thriller about someone who's witnessing from his home what appears to be a neighbor up to no good from his house across the way. I've seen this kind of thing before, in movies like REAR WINDOW, FRIGHT NIGHT, and others. Worse of all with DISTURBIA, the first half (or more like 3/4) played like an '80s teen comedy flick. We have the voyeur being a troubled teenager who's confined to his home on house arrest and gets hot for the cute girl next door, watching her swimming in her bikini through his binoculars when he's not joking around with his typically goofy sidekick friend. We start getting somewhere with the actual plot later on, and though things do pick up considerably, it's too late by then. Just average, although I did like David Morse in the part of the middle aged neighbor. ** out of ****