Tuesday

My review of Disturbia is going to be in two parts. The film stars Shia LaBeouf as a boy who is put under house arrest for punching his teacher. He is fitted with an ankle bracelet which won't allow him more than 100 yards from his house. After several weeks of boredom and observing his neighbours (including a very attractive girl), he starts to believe one of them is a serial killer. As you can tell, this is like a cross between Hitchcock's Rear Window and The 'burbs. It has, however, enough originality to stand on its own. The slight problem with it is that it relies on too many mainstream effects. There were just one too many cliches for me to really enjoy this film. At times, it was loud and brash when it could've been silent and subtle. Some of the music was too sentimental, and wanted to direct us toward every emotion, but equally it was occasionally a cool soundtrack featuring the Kings of Leon (amongst others). The set-up at the beginning was compelling, but too obvious - or cheap - a way to get us to like the main character. Shia LeBeouf's performance is good enough for us to like him anyway. Overall, it was too mainstream in its concepts and construction - it felt at times like an empty show, and there was little chemistry between actors. I don't even know if all the characters were necessary - either his school friend or the girl, not both. Perhaps it's unfair to compare this to Rear Window. It was enjoyable and tense, and borders on the line between whether I want to see it again or not. I think I do.