Disturbia: Movie & Review (2007)

"Disturbia" asks what a teenage boy is to do when he’s been placed under house arrest for assaulting a teacher. The answer? Take a cue from Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal thriller "Rear Window" and start spying on the neighbors.

If nothing else, he’ll at least get an education in psychology.

The film, which D.J. Caruso based on a screenplay by Christopher Landon and Carl Ellsworth, takes a familiar premise and makes it its own. The result is an impressive, surprisingly tense movie for the high-tech generation that doesn’t sell out its story in favor of cheap thrills.

There are genuine jolts here, with Caruso especially adroit at building suspense without losing his sense of humor. Late in the game, logic becomes strained and any prior subtleness is lost, but the fine acting by the very good cast goes a long way in keeping the film moving at a sharp clip.

The film stars Shia LaBeouf as Kale Brecht, a likable California teen traumatized after surviving the same car accident that killed his father. Now, after an altercation with his Spanish teacher, Kale is spared jail time when his mother (Carrie-Anne Moss) asks the judge to soften the sentence. The judge agrees and Kale is ordered to wear a monitoring device on his ankle, which, for the next three months, will keep him rooted to within 100 feet of his suburban home.

It’s a good deal, but Kale, who becomes bored when his mother takes away his video games, is eventually drawn to the windows that overlook the community beyond. What he finds there is a world teeming with unexpected interest.

For instance, just below him in one of the houses is his new neighbor Ashley (Sarah Roemer), who looks fetching in a bikini, and with whom Kale and his friend, Ronnie (Aaron Yoo), strike up a friendship that becomes steeped in voyeurism. With their binoculars, cell phones and video cameras, these three see plenty from Kale’s perch, none of which is more important than Mr. Turner (David Morse) himself, who drives a vintage Mustang, enjoys gardening to the point of obsession, and who — upon closer examination — might just be a serial killer.

It’s this closer examination that whips the film into a froth, particularly when Mr. Turner is seen dragging large, mysteriously cumbersome bags into his garage. With these three gradually convinced that Turner is indeed responsible for the murders of several women, the game is on, with Turner himself, in another broad nod at "Rear Window," becoming aware of their surveillance, which heightens the suspense, as does his growing relationship with Kale’s mom.

Until its overwrought ending, which bends backward into overkill, much of what ensues is slick and satisfying, a movie geared toward teens that for once doesn’t dumb down its story for them.

Grade: B