Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here. Memflix has contributed a few times before, and I think we’re going to be posting a look at local Memphis film from him sometime in the near future. For now, though, he’s got a review of DJ Caruso’s new film, and I’m praying with crossed fingers that Caruso nails this one. I like him as a filmmaker, but he’s been hamstrung by some lame material recently. Is this one a step up?
Memflix coming back at you with a look at Disturbia. I just got home from a screening and wanted to throw out an early word. Like Quint, I am a huge fan of The Salton Sea. I put its director, Caruso, at the top of my list after I saw it. He had such a confidence behind the camera. It was as if he knew he had great material and knew just how to handle it. He pulled an amazing performance out of the sometimes stiff Kilmer. Mystery and suspense all effortlessly blended to make it a heart pounding revenge flick. A real treat. I was highly anticipating his follow-up, Taking Lives. But, you all know how that one turned out. Not even a Jolie boob shot could save that tripe. If the audience wasn’t already familiar with her endowments maybe, but that wasn’t the case. Then came Two for the Money. That was another let down that for me put a slash through Caruso’s name. Well, when the chance to check out Disturbia came along, I decided not to get too excited and just take it for what it was. The approach worked. I had a damn dandy good time. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it worked. AND NO. It didn’t rip-off Hitchcock. It paid homage here and there and it used Rear Window’s concept to good effect. As I was watching, I started checking my watch. A half hour had gone by, and no killer. There’d been some bits on the news about a missing girl, but nothing substantial. That’s when I realized, Disturbia’s main focus was the troubled, grieving character Kale, played by LeBouf. The serial killer was thrown in to keep us interested in the telling of the real story. The movie is essentially about how a kid deals with grief. Kale’s father died in the first 5 minutes of the film. A year later, he reacts a little too violently to a Spanish teacher’s careless comment regarding his dad. What I saw when I started to really pay attention to Kale, was a boy lost in life’s grand landscape of confusion. The irony is that he experiences this while being confined to his house for that earlier reaction. Like I said, Disturbia wasn’t flawless or even what one would consider an amazing edition to the medium, but it was thought provoking and the suspense was executed with skill. The two main attractions here are Morse and Lebouf. Morse, in my opinion, has never been greasier or sleazier. He was friggin creepy! But not even Morse could take the shining light away from Lebouf. This boy has more talent than anyone realizes. It seems so damn hard for someone with eternal boyish good looks to break out of the mold Hollywood casts them in, but he does and makes the work look easy. He is charming, without the smarm. He has incredible talent. After you see Disturbia, any doubt you may have had about his ability will be dissolved. The unexpected complexities of Kale were a nice surprise, but I think I might be a bit biased on this movie. I got a huge rush of nostalgia from one scene in the movie that made up my mind for me. Ashley (a beautiful newbie, Sarah Roemer) was one of the first people Kale starts to spy on. Over the course of several days, he sees her in her most vulnerable. He sees her tears and her laughter. He falls in love with her before they even meet. They meet and she joins him in his eavesdropping. She flirts hard with him, but it was apparent that she didn’t know what to think of him yet. He’s slightly goofy. He definitely isn’t what a teenage girl would call a ‘hottie.’ He was her first friend after just moving to the neighborhood, and wanted to meet other people. What better way than to host a kegger while her folks are out of town. Kale gets angry. He knows she is more than just a jock’s groupie. I was reminded of that episode in Freaks and Geeks when the geeks can feel the hot, new transfer student slipping out of their grasp. He puts some speakers and blasts irritating music to piss her off while hosting the party. It works. She comes over in a huff. They fight and he just breaks down and tells her just how amazing she is to him. He puts it all on the line and lets it rip. It is in this moment that he is at his most vulnerable. Instead of letting his words bounce of her, she opens herself as well. Then she walks up and kisses him. When that happened, I got goose bumps. Not because it was such an amazing scene, it was, because in one way or another, I was him. I had been there. I had a moment like that once when I was a teenager. When he is expounding on how perfect she is, a swarm of familiarity flowed through me. A tear came to my eye for a brief moment when she kissed him. It was just how I played it out in my imagination when the girl of my dreams heard every thought I had ever had about her, pour from my mouth. That was my most vulnerable moment. I didn’t get kissed. I didn’t get smacked either. It was worse than a smack. It was the, “I love you like a brother” heartbreak. I comment on this, because even for all its flaws, it made me dream again. It made me think of her again. I am terribly sorry for the cheese, but just in case the nostalgia blinded me on this one, I had to confess. Disturbia was slow in parts and unbelievable in others, but otherwise, it was a good time.
