What it is about movie critics that angers and endears the public to them so much. Some people swear by critics - and indeed, I have my favorites whom I trust more than my parents - and some have an almost irrational aversion to them, claiming them to be stuck-up, pretentious, or out-of-touch with society. I tend to agree with both sides to a certain degree. When my opinion swings to the latter, however, I often feel strongly about it (although I'll still pretty much stick by whatever Manohla Dargis writes).
One recent example of this is the movie Disturbia - which, to be candidly honest, I have not seen and do not plan to. I might, had I not read the script. But without myself commenting on the movie, I've found an interesting discrepancy in criticism of Disturbia that to me, illustrates perfectly the distinction between high-brow and intelligent. Now, right off the bat, you can probably tell I wasn't a fan of the script. Honestly, I was pretty indifferent...that is, until I read the first few reviews.
So what did the some reviewers say? Many dubbed it a masterpiece, a successful update of Hitchock's classic Rear Window. Indeed, it is obviously taken from the original, updated to contemporary times and with a cast of teenagers. However, to say it is even comparable to Rear Window borders on blasphemy, and does an entire movie-going population a huge disservice. Now, people wanting to see another Rear Window will leave disappointed, and those who've never seen it, will leave thinking they've seen something as good and don't need to go back and watch the original.
In fact, and as other reviewers note, it lacks the perversity and darkness of Rear Window and is, as A.O. Scott said for the New York Times - a great execution of a B-Movie genre film. Where Jimmy Stewart's voyeurism was oddly disturbing and homoerotic, Shia LeBeouf's character is merely a delinquent teen under house-arrest looking for something to pass the time. While his character, as Stewart's did before, does indeed use binoculars to spy on his neighbor, the dark undertones of voyeurism seemed lacking in the script. Now, I haven't seen the movie. I want to make that clear - because perhaps the talented LeBeouf managed to bring a quality to the screen that I did not recognize on paper. However, I've found a remarkable number of very intelligently spoke critics note the same thing.
Now of course, movies are subjective, so who am I to say one reviewer is right and one is wrong. Certainly, that's why differing opinions always exist over any film, be it Disturbia or or Gigli or Citizen Kane. However, it seems to me that saying this was a brilliant update of Rear Window is merely an easy way out of having to think about the movie at stake. All you have to do once you've said that, is basically list off the many wonderful elements of a classic Hitchcock film, thereby showing everyone your expertise, and appearing to be incredibly intelligent and well-versed in film history and knowledge. Saying the contemporary update leaves much to be desired, however, forces you to talk about the newer movie, and thus do a lot more thinking and a lot more interpretation - i.e. a lot more work.
Personally, I'll always choose the viewers that take the time to take the path less travelled.
What are your thoughts on Disturbia - or for that matter, Rear Window?
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Alex M., Movie Correspondent
Alex's column, Sunset Boulevard, published every Friday to Gather Essentials: Movies, is a weekly summary of the movie industry's biggest stories.
Alex is a film school grad working at a production company in Hollywood. She's been passionate about movies since she knew what they were and always has an opinion (for better or worse).
You can find all of Alex's Sunset Boulevard columns at gather.com/SunsetBoulevard
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Comments: 7
A survey, several years ago, showed that the majority of people who watched "Psycho" thought the bathroom scene was in red. That is really appealing to the viewer's perception as the scene was in black and white. It is almost a sacrilege to compare any film to Hitchcock. No one will ever fill his shoes.
Thanks for a great review.
.
I think too many critics write for what they perceive to be an elite audience of like minded movie goers. Who they are truly writing for is those folks who are on the fence about seeing a particular movie and want to know if it's worth the dough. It's not talking down to this audience to rate the movie based on its own merits, instead of quoting a long list of famous movies that are so much better. For the most part, this audience isn't choosing between whether to see "Disturbia" or "Rear Window," they're deciding whether to see "Disturbia" or some other choice currently playing at the box office.
But I have to agree with what June said about Hitchcock.
But are you annoyed by the comparison, or annoyed that they said it was as good as?
As a movie reviewer (and a script reviewer) I often find that comparing a movie to another well known movie is the fastest way to get a point across. I don't think this is cheating in any way or being lazy. For example, if I review a movie about a shark attack, I'm going to compare it to Jaws. Why not? Shouldn't I hold all movies up to the standard in that genre?
Christine - I think you summed up my point far better than I did!
And Cynthia, I probably needed clarification - I'm annoyed that critics are saying it's as good as, not that they're comparing it to begin with because obviously you can't help but compare it since that's what it was intended to be.
I have the same opinion of To Catch A Thief!!!!