Disturbia
A great thriller! - Aidan Lucid
This movie reminded me of a story of my time in secondary school. Like every young boy in the early years of his teens, a friend of mine went through his rebellious phase and had gotten himself expelled after misbehaving in class. At the time he thought it was cool to be free from school but as the days grew longer, he quickly fell into boredom and hated being at home. The boy was fortunate that he wasn't in the shoes of the protagonist of this movie.
While returning from a fishing trip, Kale Brecht's father dies in a car accident. One year later Kale still retains some bitterness towards his father's death. After being provoked by his teacher in Spanish class, young Brecht punches the tutor across the face. As a consequence of his actions, he is placed under house arrest and a bracelet, which monitors his every move, is tied around his ankle. The novelty of having no school soon wears off and out of sheer boredom, Kale begins to spy on his neighbours. One night while watching Mr. Turner, the man next door, the housebound teen thinks he witnesses a murder at the man's house and continues his observations. But Mr. Turner discovers the boy's activity and soon Kale finds himself being monitored by the conspicuous neighbour and learns that it doesn't pay to spy on those around you.
I thought 1408 contained a lot of moments where the viewer jumps but Disturbia had its fair share too. I might be so bold as to say that Disturbia was better than 1408 and possibly the best thriller of the year. It's one of those flicks that things happen when you least expect them to and you literally jump out of your skin when they do. Five minutes into the movie there's a horrific car crash and then things settle down but when the tension gets cranked up again, you're constantly on edge. The plot is pretty decent and there are a number of humorous scenes but the outcome is predictable and one can't help feel that Ashley, the beautiful girl who Kale falls for, is only there to flesh out the script and add running time. But overall, Disturbia succeeds in its attempt to keep the audience hooked and is a great flick.
Shia LaBeouf is rising in the ranks of stardom in Hollywood in 2007, having already starred in Transformers. He's perfect as Kale and even when he's sad and stands staring in contemplation, it elicits pity from the audience. Truly a future prospect! Sarah Roemer (The Grudge 2), is superb as Ashley and just sets the screen sizzling with her presence in any scene.
Disturbia has received many praises from teen mags and rightly so. It is definitely one of the best thrillers of 2007 and is one to watch if you're heading out at the weekend. A word of warning, this film is not for the faint-hearted!
Review published on the 11 September 2007 11:20
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