By the number thriller but still worth watching

Rating: 7/10 (12 August 2010)

There isn't much originality in "Disturbia" but it is pretty enjoyable for a by the numbers thriller.
Shia LaBoeuf plays a troubled teen whose father was killed in a road accident when the younger man was driving. He struggles to deal with this and after hitting a teacher at school he is sentenced to house arrest for three months during the summer holidays. If he strays more than a few yards from his house the sensor on his leg will alert the police. He mopes about the house for a while as his mother is out at work but then goes into "Rear Window" mode and starts observing what his neighbours are up to. Meanwhile on the news there are reports of a local woman gone missing.
He becomes even more interested in the neighbours when the hottest girl in all of Christendom moves in next door. This gives an excuse for some pretty prurient shots of her undressing and getting in and out of the pool. It's pretty clear that the movie is aimed at viewers the same age as our protagonist.
Predictably the sensor is no barrier to the hot girl becoming friends with him. Obviously she likes bad boys! She joins him in spying on the neighbours and they see the creepy man across the street moving what may be a body. He also drives the type of car mentioned in news reports about the missing woman!! You can see where this is going.
As the kids begin to investigate there are a few decent frights and suspenseful scenes but the ending doesn't hold any real surprises.
The best thing about the film is the performances of LaBoeuf and Sara Roemer as the main investigating kids. They have good chemistry and play their bored but cool teenage characters quite well. David Morse is suitably creepy as the neighbour acting suspiciously and Carrie-Anne Moss makes a welcome appearance as LaBoeuf's mother.
An enjoyable thriller to rent on DVD if you fancy some thrills but don't want to test your brain too much.