A pretty strong thriller

Rating: 6/10 (30 July 2007)

Refreshing to see such a film that's capable of building up suspense at the right moments without taking itself too seriously. Impressive stuff considering there's no blood and gore and it's all for a PG-13 audience. The 'thriller' part of the film is almost forgotten at times since you're just having so much fun with the characters and the teen drama aspect of it. The actors all played their parts pretty well, none of them were glaringly out-of-place. Shia LaBeouf is shaping out to be quite a solid male lead, but Aaron Yoo was probably the MVP here with a hilarious turn as Ronnie. Sarah Roemer may not be Elisha, but she's still hot and teasing enough to keep you both intrigued and frustrated at the same time. I didn't think much of David Morse's acting  he was just quiet whilst lacking the intimidating intelligence exhibited by, say, Sir Anthony Hopkins. Some of the events were not entirely believable, and required a few deus ex machinas to move things along, but that's to be expected from a thriller where the protagonist is not a professional. The soundtrack is your typical teen-angsty stuff, perfect when you're feeling sorry for yourself. There's probably some deep philosophical subtext on the lack of privacy in the modern world if you dig around long enough, but really, what's the point? Overall, a pretty strong thriller.