Disturbia

You know what bugs me? When I'm scrolling through Facebook and come across a post from a creator page that intentionally has a mistake. There was one that I saw earlier, showing how long LeBron James has been in the league, and it had a graphic of all the Rookies of the Year since LeBron debuted. For Derrick Rose, they put a picture of Scottie Pippen instead of Rose. They do that to ensure more engagement in their posts because you'll get hundreds of people coming into the comments to correct it. It's so lazy, and we shouldn't be rewarding people with undeserved clicks and comments. It's going to keep happening because everyone will feel the need to put a snarky comment in, trying to act smart, but completely not noticing the hundreds who had already corrected them, none of them realizing that's exactly why the OP did it. Ugh. Anyway, let's talk about...

Disturbia (2007)

I think I've told you this story before, but this movie had one of my favorite movie theater watching stories because it illustrates just how fun it is watching a horror movie with a crowd. It was opening weekend for this movie, and in case you do not go to the movies, opening night for horror is usually insanely packed and rowdy. Because of that, we usually keep a closer eye on the auditoriums playing those movies because they can get ugly. Now, Disturbia isn't hardcore horror. It was made for and marketed towards a teenage crowd, so we weren't expecting trouble. I was walking by Theater 9 when one of the managers walked out with a big smile on his face. When he saw us, he said, "Check this out."

So we go in there and it's near the end of the movie, when things are getting cuh-razy! Shia Laboef is sneaking through a house, not realizing David Morse is stalking him. The entire movie theater was quiet, like it was holding its collective breath, but every time Morse would show up out of the shadows, the entire theater would scream in unison. It was loud, high-pitched screams because the place was mainly young ladies. I hadn't seen the movie and didn't want it spoiled, so I ducked out before the final fight, but I thought it was awesome. I decided at some point I was going to watch the full thing instead of bits and pieces, and 18 years later, I've made good on it!

We start with Kale (Shia) fishing with dad, having one of those conversations that Shia always has in every movie he's in, but still somehow finds a way to make it entertaining. Plus, I found out that the entire thing was adlibbed, which explains why it seemed so natural for Shia. As an aside, out of all of Hollywood's many crashouts, Shia's makes me the saddest. I don't care what anyone says, he is a fantastic actor. He has a natural charisma, and his inflection and way of speaking are supremely entertaining and unique enough to stand out. It must be hard to have everyone telling you how great you are at such a young age, and it must be hard to adjust as you get older and cheeky shenanigans are no longer looked at as fun or cute. Insane props to Hilary Duff for being seemingly the only sane person to leave the House of Mouse and not be a weirdo.

Back to the movie. The conversation between Kale and his dad is fun and light-hearted, so it's clear something horrible is about to happen. Naturally, there's a car crash, and yikes. For me, car crashes are the most difficult things to watch play out in movies. I don't think there's a way to accurately describe that feeling when you slam on your brakes knowing there's no way you'll be able to stop in time, so you watch in slow motion and brace for impact. *shudders*

We skip ahead to Spanish class, and Kale isn't doing well. His Spanish teacher is being a huge butt and makes an offhand comment about Kale's dad. Kale does not like that... one... bit and punches the teacher's lights out. Kale is then sentenced to house arrest for three months. While trying to keep his sanity, Kale starts spying on his neighbors, including the gorgeous Ashley, who just moved in. After she catches Kale and his friend, Ronnie (Aaron Yoo), watching her. She takes the revelation a lot better than most would and joins in their stakeout. During their hangout, Kale becomes convinced that his neighbor is a serial killer. From there, Kale becomes obsessed with proving it, while Mr. Turner (David Morse) plays a cat-and-mouse game with the investigators by giving friendly warnings and conversations with an underlying menace behind each one.

The movie plays a lot like Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. Except instead of being confined to a wheelchair, he's confined to his house, and any wandering beyond the barrier will send the police to him. Not only that, but the officer who keeps showing up is the cousin of Kale's Spanish teacher. So, Kale knows he's not going to get any slack from the officer, and that guy is itching to send him right back to the judge.

I really liked it. It's a very good teen thriller with great acting, a fun cast and an exceedingly intimidating villain. Even when Mr. Turner is trying to be friendly, it's scary; there are a lot of threatening inferences in what he says, but it's buried under three different layers of friendliness. There are moments where he's downright chilling. I've always liked David Morse ever since I saw him in The Green Mile. He shows up in a lot of stuff, but I think he's pretty underrated as an actor, especially when he gets a role like this one.

I like horror movies where the main character is given a handicap, which makes things much harder for them. I appreciated it in Scream 5 and Insidious 3 because it makes our heroes more vulnerable and makes the chase scenes that much more tense. It's bad enough when something is chasing you, trying to kill you, but add that when something is preventing the person from being able to use all their tools to get away. In those movies, the characters had broken legs and bad knife wounds, while Kale was confined to a certain space.

While it's a fun movie and the characters are all entertaining, the movie is carried by LaBeouf. If it starred anyone else, the movie wouldn't have been as good. His sometimes manic way of talking and big mannerisms fit the character perfectly. He lost his dad, beat up his teacher, and now he's stuck inside his house after his mom cut off his Xbox and iTunes accounts. I can understand getting him off Xbox, but iTunes seems egregious.

While it's very entertaining, the courtship between Kale and Ashley is a little... let's say odd. Like, she isn't at all phased that he's been watching her through binoculars and is on house arrest. Like, he has an alarm set on his phone to let him know when she's doing yoga so he can go spy on her. Now, she doesn't know that, but still. Also, when she finds out they're spying on her, she takes it in stride and seems flattered by it. I know it came out in 2007, but even then, that's a little weird.

I think that's my only complaint about the movie. I get why they did it, even if I don't agree with it. Still, it's a really solid film that's entertaining throughout. To give you an idea of how enjoyable it is, I've gone the whole review without providing any details on Aaron Yoo's performance! He plays his role perfectly as the sidekick/best friend to our hero, Kale! He's not a super important character to the plot, but he does help elevate every scene he's in.

9 Dr. Chainsaws!