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Disturbia
Paramount Pictures / DreamWorks SKG
FILM:
MPAA RATING: PG-13 on appeal for sequences of terror and violence, and some sensuality
Starring
Shia LaBeouf,
David Morse,
Sarah Roemer,
Carrie-Anne Moss,
and
Matt Craven
Two teens begin to suspect that one of their neighbors is a serial killer. Are their suspicions merely the product of cabin fever and vivid imagination? Or have they unwittingly stumbled across a crime that could cost them their lives? (Paramount Pictures)
| GENRE(S): |
Suspense/Thriller
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Christopher B. Landon (also story)
Carl Ellsworth
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
D.J. Caruso
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: August 7, 2007
Theatrical: April 11, 2007
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
104 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
83
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
The Breakfast Club meets Rear Window. The result should satisfy dating crowds from high school to night school.
80
The Hollywood Reporter
John DeFore
There's plenty to ensure fresh jolts for viewers who know Hitch's tricks inside out, to say nothing of young moviegoers who don't know Grace Kelly from Thelma Ritter.
80
New York Magazine
David Edelstein
One way you know that D.J. Caruso is a resourceful director is that he scares you silly with a minimum of violence and a few smears of blood. His job was certainly made easier by Morse, whose glassy demeanor and high, soft rasp suggests horrors that not even Quentin Tarantino could imagine.
75
Christian Science Monitor
Peter Rainer
The bloody wrap-up isn't handled especially well, and I must confess that the most shocking thing about the movie was the casting of Carrie-Anne Moss as a suburban mom. I kept expecting her "Matrix" skills to show up in the final reel.
75
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Cool stuff. Cool movie.
75
USA Today
Claudia Puig
Though it's not likely to become a classic like the Hitchcock film, it's a smart and well-acted teen thriller that serves up some lively scares.
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
Morse, with his hulking frame, baby face and soft voice, has probably done too many of these villain roles for his own good. But how could you avoid casting him when he manages to present someone who's screamingly insane in the mildest, most pleasant way?
75
New York Daily News
Elizabeth Weitzman
What Disturbia lacks in complexity, it makes up for in witty jokes, sneaky jolts and a timeless lesson: If you've got windows, someone's always watching.
75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
At a certain point, movies like Disturbia require suspension of belief. To its credit, that moment comes much later in the game than usual. Up until then, like "Rear Window" before it, Disturbia is sly and suspenseful and full of mounting dread.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Ruthe Stein
Caruso, a very visual director, serves up some surprises and scares, and he's paced his movie briskly. You're out of this disturbing suburbia before you know it, shaken and even stirred.
75
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Tasha Robinson
Once the plot finally kicks into gear, director D.J. Caruso (Taking Lives) effectively cranks up the tension.
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
The battery of startling shock cuts can get repetitive and the plot has a few potholes, but the palpable atmosphere of vulnerability keeps the drama knotted in tension and the audience rooted to the teens in peril.
70
Film Threat
Zach Haddad
It did a great job of giving chills and making me jump. It may not be the most original film out there, but which ones out there today are completely original anyways?
70
The New York Times
A.O. Scott
There are no big surprises, but the jumps and jolts are well timed and the overall mood is at once grisly and good-natured -- more diverting than disturbing.
70
Variety
Justin Chang
Squirmingly fun suspenser that brings Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window" into the era of vidcams and cell phones, serving up hearty, youth-skewing portions of PG-13 violence and bikini-bait along the way.
67
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
If it's possible to be a rip-off with wit, Disturbia qualifies.
63
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
A nice little mystery thriller that takes a wrong turn on the way to its climax and morphs into a slasher movie.
63
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
Does so many things right that it's a shame to see it sink into horror-movie cliches.
63
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
Instead of leaving you lamenting the lack of creativity and originality in the film industry, this modest, playful thriller puts you in a forgiving mood.
60
Village Voice
Robert Wilonsky
There's not one single bombshell dropped in Disturbia; everyone is exactly who you think they are and does exactly what you think they'll do precisely when you think they'll do it.
60
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
The most disturbious part of Disturbia is how engaging this teenage thriller manages to be, even though it's a shameless rip-off of "Rear Window."
50
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
If you're happy to watch a thriller about a tenth as good as Alfred Hitchcock's, director D.J. Caruso and screenwriters Christopher B. Landon and Carl Ellsworth hold up their end of the deal, at least until the proceedings devolve into standard horror-movie effects and minimal motivations.
50
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
There are a few decent jolts in Disturbia, but overall this ultra-predictable thriller doesn't live up to the hype.
50
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
Up-and-comer LaBeouf (Holes) is a young actor to watch, but he's had better opportunities than this teen thriller to show what he's capable of.
50
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
For all its glitz and gadgets, is markedly inferior in everything but teen appeal.
50
Washington Post
John Maynard
LaBeouf is appealing as the frustrated shut-in, and comic-relief cred goes to Aaron Yoo, who plays his neurotic buddy Ronnie. The ending, though, drags, and the film quickly shifts from a clever homage to "Rear Window" to a bad parody of "The Silence of the Lambs."
50
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
"Rear Window" never comes up in the Disturbia press notes, which is probably just as well since it steals that movie's premise but none of Alfred Hitchcock's wit, finesse, or seduction.
40
Los Angeles Times
Dennis Lim
What the new movie lacks in craft, suspense and metaphoric richness it makes up for with, um, gadgets.
 The average user rating for this movie is 6.7 (out of 10) based on 87 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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