One order of thriller please, heavy on the everything else

Rating: 6/10 (8 May 2018)

I really don't know how I feel about this one.
I mean, on the one hand, it was a pretty typical outing for circa 2007 Shia LaBeouf who, even then at the "height" of his career, was turning in performances that were capable though not very compelling. Pair that with a story that doesn't really seem to know what it wants to be, and so overcompensates by being too much of everything: Mystery, teenage "romantic" comedy, coming of age tale and genuine thriller/horror. Add in some mediocre acting by many of the supporting players and you get a movie that just doesn't seem to ever really take flight.
On the other hand, there are genuine moments, few and far between as they may be, where the movie does accomplish what it sets out to be. Both in terms of it's individual aims (see list above) as well as the over arching feel I believe it is trying achieve by weaving them all together. Amidst the heavy sighs and eye rolls, I found myself more caught up in what was happening to the characters than I expected. Sometimes this suspension of skepticism would last long enough for me to ask myself "is this actually good?", right before something overblown or heavy handed would happen to snap me back into the disappointing reality.
So, is this a good movie? Is it a bad movie? I could probably make a case for either position, in fact I kinda just did in the previous two paragraphs, but ultimately I think this one is gonna depend on the mood of the viewer and the atmosphere of the viewing. One day, one person might think it is great and another day another person might hate it.
I guess this isn't really a bold statement since it could easily be applied to just about any movie, but it's what I've got today.
My best recommendation would that anyone who finds the premise of this film interesting should really check out Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 masterpiece Rear Window. It's everything that Disturbia want's to be and more.