Disturbia (2007)

(In theaters, April 2007) I expected nothing from this teen Rear Window wannabe, so imagine my surprise at a well-done and reasonably entertaining teen thriller. Shia Lebouef emerges as a compelling lead in this film, and he’s ideally suited to the mixture of drama, comedy, romance and thriller that develops as Disturbia unfolds. There are some modern twists to the story, but the bare bones of a voyeur thriller are there, with an adolescent dash of mischief. It’s hardly perfect, what with the cheap plot twists, incompetent voyeuristic skills of the characters and manipulated dramatic twists… But it holds up to casual viewing, and ends up being much better than the cheap “Rear Window remake for teens” label might suggest.