Disturbia in American Suburbia

Rating: 8/10 (16 September 2007)

Disturbia topped the US box office for three weeks and although that is not a marker for the quality of a film I was excited when the UK release finally arrived.
After the death of his father in a car crash Kale (Shia LaBeouf) goes from the happy suburban kid with no worries to a withdrawn, hoodie wearing emo and after failing a Spanish test he punches his teacher and is sentenced to three months house arrest, wherein he fills his time by spying on the neighbours; from a man having an affair, to the cute blond swimming in a very skimpy bikini.
Kale, along with his friend Ronnie and the bikini girl Ashley begin to spy on the standard creepy neighbour with murderous tendencies and so the chase begins between the practically unstoppable killer and pretty teens.
It takes Disturbia a while to get going, with a few false starts and cheap scares but once chase starts it does become engrossing to watch, and thankfully the film doesn't head down the oh so fashionable but extremely un-entertaining "gorno" route.
All the cast are fine - especially the comic sidekick Ronnie, who has more lives than a cat.
David Morse, who plays Mr Turner, is very creepy and is very believable as a Hollywood Killer.
Shia LaBeouf, with his natural charm and likability continues to make a name for himself as a upcoming star and has the ability to carry a film on his own. In Hollywood action films there is usually a scene where the main character, for example, Will Smith stands in a tight tee-shirt and cocks his gun as he prepares for the final battle, and in Disturbia we have the nerdy, but strangely cute Shia LaBeouf cocking a pair of garden shears. It was just a short scene but I thought it was a nice touch.
Overall Disturbia isn't exactly ground breaking and there are no surprises as to how the film ends but it is fun to watch so I would give it a 8/10. It loses a point for the bikini scenes (how many times a week does that girl go swimming? And more importantly where the hell did she disappear to during the final showdown?) and also loses a point for all the product placement i.e. Apple and Xbox should have been credited as co-stars.
Overall Disturbia is nothing new - but then again I suppose If it isn't broke don't fix it.