DISTURBIA
IT’S WINDOW TIMES IN SUBURBIA!!
By Vishal Verma

Rating:- * *1/2

What is it?
Think of "Rear Window" with digital equipment and front lawns and you'll know what to expect from this somewhat slick, and not at all scary suspense thriller in which an eavesdropping teenager (Shia LaBeouf) tries to figure out if the soft-spoken bachelor (David Morse) next door is a cold-blooded killer.

Besides, even if you have seen many variations of "Disturbia's" story, you might still find some entertainment value in this spirited, smart-alecky thriller directed by D.J. Caruso ("The Salton Sea") (Two for the Money").

Whats it all about?
More John Cusack than Jimmy Stewart, Shia LaBeouf plays Kale, a smart, suburban kid whose perfect life ends when his father is killed in a car crash. After acting out a few too many times, Kale is sentenced to house arrest, with nothing more to do than stare out his window. It also gives him plenty of time to muck around with video games and other digital distractions.  At first he considers this an excellent use of his time, given the fact that his new neighbor, Ashley (Sarah Roemer), spends most of her day sunbathing in a barely-there bikini.

But when he moves his binoculars just a little to the left, he sees something less appealing: Cranky Mr. Turner (David Morse), it appears, is murdering women in his upstairs bedroom.

There's only so much Kale can do, what with the ankle bracelet and all, so he persuades his friend Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) to sneak into Turner's house and look around. Naturally, a teenage spy has nothing on a professional killer, and before long, Turner is not only threatening all three kids, but ominously asking Kale's mother (Carrie-Anne Moss) out on dates. This, it goes without saying, is not the kind of guy you want for a stepdad.

What to look out for?
LaBeouf and Morse hold our interest especially in the second half.  In the first half, the script amusingly exploits anything likely to be lying around a boy's bedroom, from high-tech toys to Twinkies. But what "Disturbia" lacks in complexity, it makes up for in witty jokes and sneaky jolts.

Caruso's direction though has pace he zip ups in between for those cold kissing scenes and the romance.

What Not?
The obvious inspiration here is "Rear Window," in which photographer Jimmy Stewart, holed up in his upstairs apartment with a broken leg, spies on his neighbors across a Manhattan apartment courtyard and becomes convinced that one of those co-dwellers (dour Raymond Burr) murdered his wife.

But comparisons like this are probably something the makers of "Disturbia" don't want us to make, since "Disturbia," for all its glitz and gadgets, is markedly inferior in everything but teen appeal. No amount of hi-tech re-jiggering can overshadow one of the best things Alfred Hitchcock ever did.

Conclusion: Disturbia is a thriller that strangely doesn’t bother you.