There was a boom mic in EVERY SINGLE SHOT

Rating: 6/10 (29 March 2007)

I have to get that (see title) out of the way up front. I have never seen such an incredible proliferation of visible boom microphones in any other movie. Seriously, there was a microphone visible somewhere at the top of the screen for almost the entire length of the film. At some points in the movie, more than one microphone could be seen at a time. I understand that things slip through the editing process but this was just ridiculous.
The movie itself was not too bad. I was a little put off about twenty minutes into the movie when it suddenly dawned on me that I was basically watching a reworking of Rear Window but who really expects anything original from a movie, these days?. As far as teen idol vehicles go, I think Disturbia was slightly better than most. The beginning of the movie was beautifully shot and paced with a very convincing father-son dynamic. I actually felt the bond between the characters. Shia LaBeouf seems to be a decent actor and Carrie-Anne Moss's mother character was one of the most realistic I've ever seen in this type of movie; she was neither an overbearing troll nor a doormat for her son. Aaron Yoo's Ronnie was great comic relief and the kind of friend a lot of us have had (or have ourselves been to others). All in all, I think the casting was done well and the actors all turned in decent performances, with David Morse's Turner standing out the most.
Unlike the other review I just read, I don't think the pacing in this movie was all that good. There were huge blocks of what I like to call "nothing". I guess if you're a seventeen year old male, you'll enjoy the 65% of the movie that is spent watching Kale's new female neighbor through binoculars, but to me it just seemed to slow down the film. There was a little action in the beginning, a huge stretch of watching a girl swim, then a massive rush of violence at the end of the flick. I think Disturbia would benefit from a few less minutes of swimming neighbors and Hostess products towers (you'll see what I mean when you watch the movie).
I gave this movie a six because, despite what I said above and the constant presence of boom mics, this movie actually got my heart racing once or twice and the acting was quite good. If you like murder mysteries and/or teen-oriented movies, this one is worth a watch on some Sunday afternoon.
Seriously, though, there's a microphone in nearly every shot.