Disturbia

Now is a very good time to be Shia Labeouf. he opened a movie with 23 million dollars after it was projected to make 12 million, he is one of the stars of Transformers and the lead voice in Surf's up, both of those movies are projected to be huge summer movies and over the weekend it was announced he would appear in the fourth installment of the Indiana Jones movies. The biggest thing about those 4 movies is that Steven Spielberg is involved in all of them. Spielberg has picked this kid out of virtual obscurity and has bred him to be the next big thing. About that, I have to say, FINALLY! Having a little sister who grew up as part of this revitalization of Disney TV, I have known about Shia for a few years due to his run on the TV show, Even Stevens and this kid can act. He is funny and charming and was great in a little seen movie called The Battle of Shaker Heights. Now, in Disturbia he gets to prove he can be a star.


Shia stars as a mis-understood teenage boy, who likes to get int rouble by punching teachers and eventually gets under house arrest. While under the arrest, his mother gets rid of his X-box, and his Itunes, so he has to find new ways to entertain himself. Enter, Sarah Roemer, A gorgeous bikini clad new next door neighbor who piques Shia's interest and now he is all about binoculars to watch everyone around him. One night on TV he hears a story of a girl kidnapped by a man in a ford mustang with a dent in the front fender and he sees one of his neighbors drives that exact kind of car. For the rest of the movie Shia tries to prove this guy is a kidnapper and killer, from his window. Yes, it is Rear Window, but so what! This movie moves a mile and minute and never fails to deliver scares or laughs, depending on the scene. A lot of these thrillers aimed at the younger generation attempt to infuse the scares with laughs and more often than not, they fail, but due to Shia's easy going, smart alecy charm, the laughs come often and loud for the first 45 minutes.


The opening sequence is a very jarring moment and really lets us know exactly what kind of movie we are in for as it goes from a seemingly Utopian moment, to pure unadulterated agony. It is a moment that manages to resonate through the entire film. This is a movie for the youtube generation, if I ever saw one. Video cameras play into most of the most intense moments, capitalizing on a Blair Witch mentality, only actually delivering the scares Blair Witch lacked. David Morse (one of those actors who is in everything) shows up as our possible killer and what a performance he gives. He is charmingly creepy and always a formidable force, perfect for the jumps provided by the director. The director, D.J Caruso, comes from the world of television, having directed countless episodes of shows, understands that things have to keep moving in a movie like this. He manages to get thrills in the smallest places and even manages to pull this movie above typical cheap thrill fare. The conclusion is a rush of manic energy through a house that has been hallowed out and seems to have endless basement space, and while that logic seems skewed, it never matters because the hits just keep on coming. if this movie is any indication, not only will 2007 be Shia's year, but many more years to come.