Disturbia: Good thriller

In Disturbia, Shia LeBeouf (Transformers) plays Kale, a teenager with rage issues who is sentenced to house arrest after he attacks a Spanish teacher. Outfitted with an electronic ankle bracelet to ensure that he stays at home (and out of trouble) he has to serve a 90-day sentence.

This doesn't seem like such a bad thing for a kid with an Xbox 360, iTunes and all the other toys a teenager could use to survive an insular life -- until his mother comes along (Carrie-Anne Moss looking nothing like Trinity in The Matrix) and cuts him off so that he can truly suffer for his actions.

With little else to do and a lot of time on his hands, Kale takes to spying on the neighbours. This is how he gets familiar with the hot new girl next door Ashley (Sarah Roemer) who seems to spend more time on the roof of her house than she does in the actual house.

One thing leads to another and Kale, his friend Ronnie and Ashley become addicted to neighbour-watching. Of particular interest are the movements of the very creepy Mr Turner (David Morse channeling Anthony Hopkins) whose manner and moves raise the suspicions of the three kids.

When modern-day technology and old-school paranoia combine to convince Kale that he might have actually witnessed a murder, things begin to get out of hand. What follows is a fairly taut cat-and-mouse game in which a kid with a checkered history finds himself repeatedly losing the game of your-word-against-mine with his adult neighbour.

You've probably already heard (or read) that Disturbia plays out like a teenage version of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. In this case, that is not a bad thing.

First up, it's interesting to see how an idea can be updated/modernised without ripping it off pointlessly (the way our boys with the megaphones do it in Bollywood). For another, this film is fun enough that it ceases to matter that LeBeouf is no Jimmy Stewart and Roemer is definitely no Grace Kelly.

From the very beginning, Disturbia does not play out like a by-the-numbers thriller. The first surprise itself is a good one; it appears within the first 10 minutes of the movie and from there on, the filmmakers scatter enough chills around the film to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

LeBeouf and Morse play fairly well-matched adversaries and it is an eye-opener to see a regular-looking kid hold an entire film on the strength of his presence. The supporting cast delivers consistent performances and all in all, this could be the perfect movie to see with that girl you've been wanting to get to know a little better. If she doesn't grab your hand at least once during the movie, she's probably not that into you.

Rediff Rating: