Disturbia (2007)

This Movie's About a kid named Kale (Shia LaBeouf who has the good life living in the suburbs of any small town America. His life takes a tragic turn when Kale and his father get into a car accident, leaving Kale to deal with the death alone with his mother, Julie (Carrie-Anne Moss). Things go from bad to worse when Kale punches out his Spanish teacher. This combined with his two previous misdemeanors puts him under house arrest for the summer. Things seem to be going alright at home until Kale's mom cancels every form of entertainment available. This leaves Kale with no other option but to spy on his neighbors. What he sees at first is all entertaining, especially the hot new neighbor's daughter, Ashley. But what's entertaining suddenly becomes terrifying when he spots his neighbor Mr. Turner, with some suspect garbage. Paranoia is redefined as Kale tries to not only convince others, but himself that his neighbor is indeed the serial killer.

You Should Watch It Because good thrillers are so hard to come by. And I know that many people are in love with this movie, and they have a right to be. But I think most people who adore this movie adore it because at the time, there was just really nothing else out that was worth watching. This film is by no way a masterpiece with all kinds of twists and turns. It's very one-dimensional and although the love story is cute, it's inclusion borders this movie a bit too close to the teen slasher genre. I'm not saying this movie isn't good cause it is and definitely worth watching, but just don't go in there expecting to be blown away.

What's Hot is Sarah Roemer in a bikini for half the movie and Shia LaBeouf redeems himself to a degree from his Transformers debacle. His acting is pretty good although I still get the feeling that he's just playing himself. But himself is a good character and it suits this film so I'm not complaining. I was also very glad to see the Asian community represented in Aaron Yoo who plays Ronnie, Kale's best friend. The writing is solid like most well received films as everything is set up properly and then paid off in the climax.

What's Brutal is LaBeouf continuing acceptance of awkward make out scenes. I understand that this is supposed to be a teen movie, and making out is something teens are interested in doing, but if you want to make and produce a straight up hardcore thriller, you need to focus more on the thrillin' parts. Don't get me wrong, making out with someone as hot as Sarah Roemer is thrilling and I'm sure that Shia was going crazy in his mind while filming those scenes, but for the rest of us poor souls who don't have the opportunity for the luxary, perhaps a little less focus on the sex and a bit more on the action would have been nice.

Breaking It Down:
Story: 7.5 (Christopher B. Landon & Carl Ellsworth: screen play)
Direction: 7.5 (D.J. Caruso)
Acting: 7.0
Cinematography: 7.6
Music/Sound: 7.8

Entertainment Value: 7.6 (not an average)