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Disturbia (2007)

Director: D.J. Caruso

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From Time Out Chicago

Shot on a single set and featuring one of the most inspired premises of all time—a man with a broken leg suspects his neighbor is a murderer—Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954) is a deceptively simple masterpiece. It remains the definitive screen study of voyeurism, the secrets of the American everyman and the lack of privacy inherent in urban living. It’s even a metaphor for film direction: Photographer confined to a chair looks out at life, then spins what he sees into a story.

Any film that co-opts the formula for cheap suspense is basically asking for it, but Brian De Palma never vulgarized it as much as Disturbia, a teen version of the story that replaces James Stewart with string bean LeBeouf. Allowing himself the freedom to move through several rooms, Caruso (Taking Lives) puts his protagonist under house arrest, enabling him easy access to technology and views of his comely neighbor (Roemer). The other house next door belongs to a rat-tailed recluse (Morse) whom LeBeouf suspects is a serial killer; that the dude is played by Morse (officially the new Christopher Walken) and dispenses lectures on the world’s “heightened state of paranoia” adds both apparent guilt and unintentional laughs.

Failing to pay off even on its own terms (LeBeouf’s ankle bracelet is “tamper-proof,” my ass), Disturbia supplies obligatory nods to Psycho and drowns in an impressively boring bloodbath. Next up: a remake of Dial M for Murder, with Hilary Duff in the Grace Kelly role.

Author: Ben Kenigsberg 2007-06-15 20:15:21

Time Out Chicago Issue 111: April 12–18, 2007