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Rear Window has already been remade with an actual quadriplegic - Christopher Reeve and Darryl Hannah starred in a 1998 TV movie - so it's only natural to go to the other extreme; Disturbia is Rear Window with teenagers and the central character isn't actually injured at all. Instead, Disturbia's James Stewart replacement Shia LaBeouf is forcefully incarcerated in his house by an electronic tag after he's taken to court for punching his Spanish teacher. Fortunately for LaBeouf's Kale, he has what must be the biggest teenager's bedroom in suburban America, complete with multiple aspect windows allowing him to watch his neighbours in several directions. This is a film aimed at teens, though, so naturally his attention is grabbed by the hot girl who's just moved in next door and has a penchant for swimming in her pool wearing a bikini.
What follows is utterly predictable, particularly to those who've seen Rear Window (although those who only know the plot from an episode of The Simpsons might have a surprise or two). Cheekily, Disturbia makes no mention in its credits of the Hitchcock classic but barring its contemporary suburban estate setting and young stars it is a virtual beat-for-beat retread. To the credit of the filmmakers, however, it's far better than it deserves to be. A witty script and entertaining performances from LaBeouf (playing pretty much the same character as in Transformers) and Aaron Yoo as his clumsy best mate elevate the dialogue scenes to well above average. The suspense is also very well handled by director D.J. Caruso, aided by a typically creepy and smarmy turn by David Morse, possessing real menace, and the appropriate Bernard Herrmann-meets-Hans Zimmer score from Geoff Zanelli helps immensely with the pacing. In particular the sequence in which Yoo's Ronnie creeps into Morse's house is great edge-of-seat stuff.
As is now the norm with modern horror/thrillers, the ending is unfortunately overblown, but even when things become increasingly frantic the director wisely chooses not to resort to cheap jump scares. The constant product placement is a slight annoyance, but that just reflects the current nature of the film industry, and in this instance the products are incorporated logically into the narrative (plenty of teenagers have an X-Box 360 in real life). The opening, one of the few parts not copied from Rear Window, gives a clear indication that this thriller is going to be well above average, and the ensuing brisk 100 minutes or so fly past in a blur of nail-biting excitement. Disturbia is a thoroughly satisfying, even exhilarating, piece of popcorn entertainment.
The summary
A finely-honed, amusing script, efficient direction and likeable performances make Disturbia a recommended watch, even for die-hard Rear Window fanatics.
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