Superficially enjoyable, even if it does copy Rear Window

Rating: 6/10 (25 June 2016)

DISTURBIA is a big generic Hollywood film that tells a story that's already been told in cinema. This time around, REAR WINDOW is the film that's being ripped off, except the story is reinvented for the teenage crowd with a young leading characters, lots of teen stuff going on (romance, parties, chicks in bikinis, mobile phones, etc.) and a villain straight out of a horror movie who gradually becomes more involved in the actual plot as the story carries on. For the most part this is a slick and efficient example of film making, a film with a fast pace that keeps you watching. Sure, it's full of clichés and unbelievable situations, and a plot full of holes when you think about it too much, but that's pretty much par for the course in modern Hollywood productions.
There's something about Shia LaBeouf I just don't like. I hated his character in TRANSFORMERS, and the way he's portrayed by Spielberg as some kind of golden boy. He's a little better in DISTURBIA, even if I couldn't bring myself to actually "like" him. One interesting thing is that the script portrays his character as a real voyeur, getting his kicks watching his sexy female neighbour undress every night. However, LaBeouf isn't condemned for this behaviour, it's just presented as the normboys will be boys, and all that. The whole sub-plot involving the killer neighbour seems fairly extraneous to the main story of the romance, and there isn't a great deal of spying going on.
It's a shame, because there's a brilliant and underrated actor playing the bad guy: David Morse. Morse is equally at home playing both good guys and bad, and he fills his character here with a real sense of menace. He needs more screen time and more roles. The rest of the cast list, including an almost unrecognisable Carrie-Ann Moss, just don't cut it, although I will admit that Sarah Roemer is cute. In any case, things play out well enough, and there's not really anything to dislike. Things end in one of those 20-minute hero vs. villain finales, full of jump scenes, death, rotting bodies, and a villain who just won't stay dead. I would have preferred a little more wit with the script, but this movie manages to get by without that. I enjoyed it, even if I don't want to see it again.