Disturbia

There is a perception about movies that younger moviegoers won't and/or can't watch movies that were made before a certain year.  Check that.  It's not a perception if it's true.  I have friends and families who choose not to watch a movie not because it sounds stupid or they're not interested. They choose not to because it was released in the 1960s or any decade prior to 1980, your choice.  How ridiculously stupid is that? Needless to say I don't talk much to those people anymore. The solution to this is to make remakes of those pre-1980 movies.

One of the few good examples that I can think of is 2007's Disturbia, a remake/knock-off of Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 classic thriller, Rear Window. First off, let's get this out of the way. This is a movie that did not need to be remade.  It is a classic in its own right.  I struggle to call the remake a dumbed-down version because it isn't.  It was just made for a different target audience, the typical teenager who's never heard of Hitchcock or Rear Window.  I was actually surprised by how much I liked this version as director D.J. Caruso puts his own unique, more modern spin on the voyeur-based story.

A year after he was driving in an accident that his father was killed in, teenager Kale (Shia LaBeouf) is still struggling to move on, blaming himself for the death. He even punches a teacher, earning himself three months house arrest during the summer with a sensor placed around his ankle to make sure he stays within 100 feet of a home base. Kale's mom, Julie (Carrie-Ann Moss), basically cuts him off from all entertainment, and he starts to lose his mind with boredom, resorting to watch the goings-on in the neighborhood, especially the family that moved in next door and their teenage daughter, Ashley (Sarah Roemer). As the days drag on and his boredom increases, Kale begins to suspect that his neighbor behind him, Turner (David Morse), is hiding something. The clues build up, and Kale is sure he's stumbled into something big, but is he making connections where there aren't any or is he actually onto something?

In their effort to aim this movie at a younger audience, Caruso and Co. do a funny thing. By funny I mean pretty stupid. None of the special features on the DVD even mention Rear Window as a source of inspiration oddly enough (that I remember at least).  The story does add some more modern tweaks -- mostly technology related -- as Kale, Ashley and his friend Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) are basically able to get into Turner's house via cameras, both taking pictures and through zoom lenses.  It's a nice job of playing off the basic premise of Rear Window, adding some dimensions to it, and then throwing in a touch of The 'burbs for good measure. How much do we actually know about our neighbors? Who the hell knows what they're actually up to?

What the DVD special features do mention is that with this modern re-telling of Rear Window, Caruso goes for something more.  As LaBeouf explains it, a John Cusack thriller.  The description is spot-on.  For most of an hour, the thriller aspect is kept in the background, a looming presence that eventually will be dealt with.  I mean this in the most positive way possible, but the first hour plays like an after school special mixed with a John Hughes 80s comedy.  We see Kale struggling with his limitations, seeing him watch and observe the neighbors, watching the very beautiful Ashley next door but unable to do anything about it...at first.  It plays like a teen angst comedy and works surprisingly well.  Then when the thriller aspect comes up, it transitions seamlessly, not missing a beat.  There's really no way this should work all things considered, but somehow and some way, it does just that. It works.

I go back and forth on LaBeouf as an actor, but I think I'm coming around on him.  He's 21 years old here playing someone maybe six(?) years younger, but he is convincing nonetheless.  I think what's key is that even through all his personal struggles, I actually liked this character and was rooting for him.  At times, he's guilty of yelling for the sake of yelling, but he handles the drama, the dark comedy that arises, and the budding relationship with Roemer's Ashley.  Roemer is fetishized within an inch of her life early, finally becoming a full-fledged believable character as the story develops. Moss is okay in a throwaway part as Kale's mom, and Yoo as his friend Ronnie has some fun with the sidekick role.  Morse is a scene-stealer as Mr. Turner, the mysterious, downright creepy next door neighbor who may or may not be up to something. The cast all works well together, handling all the different genre elements well.

If the movie has a fault, it's the last 20-25 minutes as everything gets wrapped up.  SPOILERS STOP READING SPOILERS I don't think the movie had the guts to make Turner not be an epically bad dude in the finale.  The whole movie would just be a red herring then without it.  The twists and turns the story takes is a little much, throwing away any sense of realism that the first 80 minutes brought up.  It's not a bad ending either, but it doesn't work as well as it should have. I wish they would have toned it down a bit, maybe tweaked it slightly.

That said, I really enjoyed this movie.  It has its light moments straight out of a teen comedy, and then mixes them with some genuine scares and 'Gotcha!' moments.  Laughs, scares, a good story, and a better cast. As far as remakes go, you're going to be hard-pressed to find a better one.

Disturbia <---trailer (2007): ***/****