simple, effective thriller

Rating: 7/10 (5 May 2007)

"Disturbia" is "Rear Window" with gadgets - lots and lots of gadgets. Forget the high-powered binoculars that Jimmy Stewart had to rely upon in that earlier film to fulfill his voyeuristic tendencies; that's strictly old school stuff compared to the PCs, cell phones, camcorders and various other technological marvels the hero of "Disturbia" uses for his spying and sleuthing. Thus, what is a bane for modern-day paranoiacs is clearly a boon for neighborhood Peeping Toms.
Shia LeBeouf is Kale, a suburban teen placed under house arrest for punching out his Spanish teacher after the latter makes a cutting remark about Kale's recently deceased father one day in class. Literally stuck at home with nothing to do, Kale begins to wile away the hours spying on his various neighbors, including, naturally, a young blonde hottie who has conveniently moved in right next door to the horny prisoner. Kale also begins to suspect that the man down the street, who spends most of his free time benignly mowing his lawn, may, in fact, be a serial killer who lures beautiful women into his home and violently dispatches them. Soon, Kale, his best friend from school, Ronnie, and the blonde cutie, named (what else?) Ashley, are crime-solving with the best of them, uncovering clues and closing in on the suspect even as they become aware that they might not be quite as invisible to their intended target as they originally thought they were.
Despite its tendency to wander off into Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew-level melodramatics at times, "Disturbia" is a generally tidy little thriller, refreshingly simple and straightforward in a time when such films tends to be just a little too clever and a little too convoluted for their own good (the screenplay is blessedly devoid of those "surprise" turnabout plot twists that are practically de rigeur in modern movie thrillers). There are plenty of holes and inconsistencies in the storyline, as is perhaps to be expected, but co-writers Christopher B. Landon and Carl Ellsworth, and director D. J. Caruso keep us from fixating too much on them with the skill of their film-making. The climactic scenes are wickedly suspenseful, even if just about every shot feels derived from some previous film ("The Silence of the Lambs," "The Shining," "Poltergeist," and "The Blair Witch Project" seem to be the primary sources here).
The key factor in "Disturbia"'s success lies in LaBeouf's star-making performance in the lead role. This talented and charismatic young actor has a slightly befuddled, puppy dog expression that gives the character the vulnerability he needs to make his heroics convincing. He is nicely complemented by Aaron Yoo and Sarah Roemer as his partners in crime-detection, and by David Morse (the dad in "Contact") as the killer next door.