Watching them watching him watching them

Rating: Null/10 (22 February 2008)

DJ Caruso's teen riff on Hitch's voyeuristic classic Rear Window (with enough changes to avoid having to buy the rights) is better than most movies aimed at this market group, but succeeds more in reminding you how good the 50s version was than in establishing any reputation of worth for itself.
Shia LeBouef takes on the Jimmy Stewart role but this time, just to show how much times have changed, he's disabled not by a broken leg but by one of those surveillance devices strapped to his leg after he 'pops' his Spanish teacher. Bored to distraction by his incarceration at home, Kale (LaBeouf) takes to spying on the neighbours  especially sexy new girl next door, Ashley (Sarah Roemer). That's right  our hero is a peeping tom with anger management issues. The other neighbour to grab his attention is sinister bachelor Robert Turner (David Morse) who seems to fit the description of a serial killer of young redheads that seems to be perpetually broadcast on TV. Teaming up with hot young Ashley who, we later surmise, considers the news that he has covertly been ogling her body the 'sweetest thing she's ever heard'  and best friend Ronnie (Aaron Yoo), Kale tries to get the evidence he needs to put Turner away.
After a terrific opening car smash that sees Kale lose his father, the film takes it's time to get going, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing as it gives us a chance to get to know our hero a little better. Trouble is, there isn't really that much to get to know: Kale is a typically grumpy teen with more activity going on in his pants than his head. LeBeouf, 21 when this was made, plays the part well as does Roemer, his partner in crime. Only Yoo comes across as laboured, in the best friend role whose fate is so 'unexpected' that these days it's becoming as much of a stereotype as the narrative convention it tries to avoid..
All in all, this is an adequate time-filler, if nothing more. It avoids the brain-jangling MTV style of editing and resists for the most part the temptation to pepper the plot with cheap shocks. While it tries to add a little depth to its characters, too often it is done in a half-hearted manner (for example, the perceived friction in the Carlson household is hinted at but never expanded upon). The film could also have benefited from more attention being placed upon the psychological aspects of the cat-and-mouse game played by Turner and Kale once the former knows the latter is onto him.
The plot holes and character inconsistencies are mostly confined to the final couple of reels, during which the whole thing threatens to fall apart completely (Turner's typical suburban house is the size of a castle inside, complete with dungeon and tiled-wall abattoir) but, as with many films like this, this set-up seems to be considered more important than the pay-off...