Sometimes a movie concept is just too juicy to not update. What with technology lurching ahead in leads and bounds with every passing year, giving a classic flick a modern day face-lift seems like a no-brainer – especially when the classic we’re talking about is one made by Alfred Hitchcock. Of course, to simply suggest that 2007’s Disturbia is merely just a redux of Rear Window made for a teen audience would probably invoke some angry lawyers as the filmmakers had to dodge a lawsuit from the rights owners of the short story Hitchcock’s film was based on, Cornell Woolrich’s “It Had To Be Murder” – but surely this (in a backwards kind of way) would suggest that the film had certainly succeeded in invoking the earlier classic.
Still, lawsuits are good and all, but does Disturbia manage to do it’s inspiration proud, or does it dumb it down too much for a generation where technology is king?
Rear Windows ’98, anyone?
17 year-old Kale Brecht is going through some tough times that goes way beyond the fact that he’s been burdened with the first name of Kale. After his father is killed in a car accident, Kale’s attitude takes a plunge to the point where his schoolwork declines and he even physically assaults a teacher who pushes him too hard. Narrowly avoiding juvie by the skin of his teeth thanks to a sympathetic judge, the teen is sentenced to house arrest which instantly proves to not be as cushy a deal as you’d think. Adamant that his punishment feels like punishment, Kale’s mother, Julie, cancels his Xbox Live subscription and cuts his TV wires and with the addition of his ankle monitor not allowing him to even make it to the end of his front lawn, the troubled teen soon has to find other things to pass the time.
Soon building towers out of Tinkies becomes tiresome and so Kale starts spying on the neighbourhood and discovers something akin to a living, breathing soap opera exists right outside his window, but soon he also can’t help but noticing that his attractive new neighbour, Ashley, is reciprocating his potentially creepy behavior. Soon Kale, Ashley and Kale’s dumbass friend Ronnie are all addicted to the comings and goings of the neighbourhood, but things start to take a dark turn when they turn their attention to the solitary Robert Turner.
Noticing that he has some rather strange behavioural patterns that seem to coincide with the disappearances of a number of women, the group soon find themselves awash with paranoia as they move from spying to actually trying to prove their suspicions. But while Turner seems to be one step ahead of them as their antics get ever more risky, is it because he actually has nothing to hide, or is it because he’s well versed at covering his murderous tracks?
However you want to describe Disturbia – a tech savvy Rear Window; Fright Night without the vampire; take your pick – you can’t deny that this breezy thriller is a solid watch when taken on its own terms. Sure, some may be horrified that the film seemingly has been made for the sole purpose of presenting a classic to kids who can’t be bothered to watch a movie made before they were born, but it takes its job of updating a far superior movie surprisingly seriously. While you’d expect a teened-up Hitchcock to gloss over a lot of the set up in order to get to the thrills as soon as possible, director D.J. Caruso opts to shoot for a psycho-thriller where those involved are actually more on the three dimensional side rather than just being a glorified chess piece in a Ramones t-shirt.
It’s a wise decision because when you have a plot that basically has a 17 year-old boy willfully violating his neighbours privacy after getting nailed with house arrest after laying out a teacher, you’re going to have to do some serious work to make your main character likable. Amusingly enough, this task mainly falls to Shia LaBeouf, who in the years since, has very publicly had some likability issues of his own after a string of high profile run-ins saw his stock plummet. In the actor’s favour, this was still during the Transformers years when his volcanic kid acts was still in its heyday and it’s worth noting that for all of of the actor’s later infamy, Disturbia is a timely reminder a just how solid and natural a leading man the actor was before the rage-fueled crash outs of Sam Witwicky crossed over from out of the safety of a Michael Bay movie into the real world. As a result, Kale is rather an engaging teen to follow that fully acknowledges all the stupid shit that kids of a certain age get up to while still making him fun to be with despite his obvious troubles.
However, while Disturbia takes pains to cover all of its bases in regards to characterization (making an angry kid who punched out a teacher likable doesn’t happen overnight you know) the rest of the cast weirdly have to breathe life into supporting characters that could have walking in out of a thriller from the Hallmark Channel. To be honest, it’s pretty weird seeing Carrie Ann Moss in mommy mode after her turn as Trinity in The Matrix, but while she’s stuck is something of a thankless role, it’s still good to have her around. Elsewhere, Sarah Roemer capably plays the type of female lead who only could exist in a movie where the the girl next door would a find boy attractive despite him going full Bart Simpson in the Rear Window episode where he broke his leg. Rounding things out is David Morse who seems tailor-made to play a quiet, intense neighbour who puts out is he/isn’t he serial killer vibes as easily as breathing – but all the actors are so smartly cast, they each managed to whip their thin characters into shape in order to keep up with LaBeouf’s on-screen panic attacks.
However, in a weird, counterintuitive complaint, I’d argue that the film maybe concentrates a little too much on the characters to the expense of the actual thrills. In fact, the serial killer plot only really starts getting serious with only a third of the flick let’s to go, which is kind of strange for teen targeted movie made in the 2000s. However, when all the fake outs and rug pulls pass, the movie ventures into some alarmingly hard-core territory that wouldn’t seem out of place in a Texas Chainsaw movie that suddenly throws in underground tunnels and water-logged body pits for out characters to wade through.
While short on genuine surprises (when you hire David Morse, you hire him for a reason), and weirdly slow out of the gates, when it comes to solid thrillers, Disturbia uses its spirited lead actor to good, sweaty use when digging into the benefits or a modern day redux. However, while it’s benefits are many, it’s still strangely forgettable when held up the original excuse for okaying a man to obsessively stare at his neighbours through binoculars.
🌟🌟🌟
We Have Issues 