Review: Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

Reviews

Disturbia

A Rear Window redux

By BRETT MICHEL | April 10, 2007

2.5 Stars

VIDEO: Watch the trailer for Disturbia.

What happened to D.J. Caruso, the promising director who debuted with the little-seen The Salton Sea? Sure, his 2002 film shambled through its noirish paces, but its mournful saxophone riffs interwove into an atmospheric narrative fugue. This latest is a feature-length alt-rock-soundtrack shill that merges with violin strains that would make even Bernard Herrmann blanch. Caruso’s slide began with the predictable 2004 Angelina Jolie serial-killer sex thriller Taking Lives; the descent quickens with this Rear Window redux that lacks the good grace to acknowledge its source. (Story credit goes to Christopher B. Landon, if not a student of Hitchcock then certainly of Jayson Blair.) And just who anointed Shia LaBeouf America’s next leading man? The kid must have a great agent, as he’ll next be seen in Michael Bay’s CG-laden Transformers, but not even computer effects can transform him into Jimmy Stewart.

Related: Eagle Eye, Autumn peeves, The girls of summer, More

Topics: Reviews , Celebrity News, Entertainment, Michael Bay, More

| More

Most Popular

The Current Issue

Table of Contents

Cover Archive

Masthead | Authors | Contact us

Blogs

Gold Star Mother: Romney Skipped Funeral, Left "Bullying" Messages
Talking Politics | October 22, 2012 at 3:45 PM

PHX Countdown to Halloween: Night #10: Haunted Places
Phlog | October 22, 2012 at 3:25 PM

[dance party review] Techno 'til you drop: Chriss Vargas @ RISE 10.20.12
On The Download | October 22, 2012 at 3:20 PM

[awesome video alert] Casey Desmond "Deja Vu" // 10.23 @ Lansdowne Pub WFNX party
October 22, 2012 at 2:05 PM

See this film: Ghostbusters @ the Coolidge
Outside The Frame | October 21, 2012 at 12:00 PM

ARTICLES BY BRETT MICHEL

REVIEW: CONNED (2010) | October 18, 2012
"What is this, some kinda' fuckin' joke?" These are the first words uttered in writer/director Arthur Luhn's homegrown comedy.

REVIEW: TAKEN 2 | October 10, 2012
Retired CIA operative Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is still trying to remain an active part of the lives of his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) and his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace).

REVIEW: BUTTER | October 11, 2012
Any real-world comparisons between the Sarah Palin-like Laura Pickler (Jennifer Garner) and her African-American opponent, Destiny (Yara Shahidi), are encouraged in this over-churned movie that presents itself as a "cutthroat story of greed, blackmail, sex, and butter."

REVIEW: HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE | October 02, 2012
In 1987, 26-year-old Peter Staley, a closeted Wall Street trader, was diagnosed as HIV-positive. Given less than two years to live, he addressed the International AIDS Conference . . . three years later. He's still alive.