Disturbia Movie Doesn't Quite Deliver

"Disturbia" had all the ingredients of a suspense/thriller movie. Strong characters, the "Hitchcock" style story line and the right actors in the lead roles should have added up to home run, but Disturbia only made it second base for me and was stranded there.

The very likable Shia LaBeouf stars as Kale Brecht, who becomes so withdrawn from life after his father's tragic death, that his anger and frustrations finally culminate in his being placed under house arrest while his mother (Carrie-Anne Moss), in a role a bit different for her, works pretty much all day and night as the sole provider for the family. This is one example of something that could have been explored a bit more, did she always work long hours, or was it her way of dealing with her the loss of her husband. This also could have made the connection between her and LaBeouf a bit stronger for the audience.

As the walls begin to close in around Kale, he begins to "spy" on his neighbors for something to do to pass the time, and then he gets the best diversion of all delivered right next door in the form of new neighbor, Ashley (Sarah Roemer). The two meet at first through glances of interest, which graduates to Kales adding the monitoring of her daily activities to his "binocular" observations which include several opportunities to enjoy her daily swims in the backyard pool.

A chance viewing of a news report about a missing woman turns Kale's attention to the neighbor on the other side as a potential suspect, my personal favorite movie/television bad guy, David Morse (Mr. Turner). Morse plays "creepy" like a slow climb up a roller coaster and when he gets to the top of the hill, look out, because he grabs you big time on the way down that first hill. This was the second thing that bothered me about the movie as it would have better to see more of Morse, especially interacting with the rest of cast because you really get the feeling that they are genuinely scared of this guy and don't have to act it.