Disturbia

After setting an unexpected standard of integrity with roles in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints and Bobby last year, former Disney star Shia LaBeouf is now making strides toward becoming a commercial film star. His goofball next door persona is front and center in Disturbia, an awkwardly and stupidly named film, (suburbia is so disturbed! Disturbia!) that more or less amounts to a competent reimagining of Rear Window for the digital age. Anyone with a cynical edge might want to steer clear as making negative comparisons to the Hitchcock classic are somewhat inevitable, but as far as teen films and thrillers go, this one is one of the best of late.

LaBeouf’s Kale is a juvenile delinquent under house arrest who decides to spend his time indoors peering out at the suburban scandals of his neighbors, particularly paying attention to the brand new girl next door, Ashley (Sarah Roemer). Eventually the two become friends and along with Kale’s best pal Ronnie (Aaron Yoo), they begin peering into the life of Mr. Turner, (David Morse) the strange guy across the street who they tease might be the serial killer reported on the local news, and turns out to actually be a more likely suspect than they’d originally imagined.

The film gets by largely on Morse’s ability to be eerily ambiguous. He makes Turner a menace from a certain perspective while leaving room for the interpretation that this is all just the product of some very bored teenagers’ warped imaginations. LaBeouf is also due credit, for the pretty much effortless, Cusack-y ease and eagerness he lends to the pseudo-loser role at the film’s center. He’s part hyper schoolboy and part compassionate loner. It all factors into the nicely melded genre mesh of the murder mystery world of the film and the more straightforward but equally effective drama side that bolstered by LaBeouf and his chemistry with costars Roemer and Yoo. You’re not going to get much originality out of this one, but you’ll be surprised by exactly how eerie, fun, and effective a retread can be.

Grade: B+