DISTURBING BEHAVIOR / (1998) * (out of four)
(Minor Spoilers)
Prozac and Ritalyn fill the medicine cabinets of today's youth, yet "Disturbing Behavior" takes this generation to the next level, giving teenagers even more of an excuse to consume such drugs. Just what we need, another reason for young people to be paranoid about what their parents are planning for them.
In theme, "Disturbing Behavior" can be compared to one of my all time favorite movies, Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange." It manifest engaging ideas about society and freewill. "A Clockwork Orange" lunged into the subject with shocking perversity and artistic expression, but "Disturbing Behavior" lacks exactly what is counterpart explores.
Falling captive to conformity and peer pressure from the recent string of popular teen slasher movies, "Disturbing Behavior," misses almost every opportunity to provide audiences with satisfying material. It takes the point-of-view of a typical teenager named Steve Clark (James Marsden from "X-Men"), who doesn't have much time to react to the suicide of his older brother (Ethan Embry) when his family packs their bags and moves to a nice little town called Cradle Bay.
Local stoners Galvin (Nick Stahl) and U.V. (Chad E. Donella) greet Steve during his first day at the new high school. A an attractive loner, Rachel (Katie Holmes), predictably snatches Steve's attention. The school's mentally challenged janitor, Dorian Newberry (William Sadler), obsesses about the town's rat population in the basement. All in all, though, Cradle Bay is a pleasant village.
But then Galvin rants about the school's elite club, the Blue Ribbons. He think's they're brainwashing all the town's teens. Steve initially thinks nothing of his new friend's paranoia, until he himself discovers the technologically diabolical plans of the school's principal (Bruce Greenwood): the villainous faculty plans to turn all of the local teens into being of sole perfection.
This man's idea sure would end half the problems of society, wouldn't it? But just for kicks, lets say that this is a bad thing. And besides, what would the world be like if teens couldn't get themselves into trouble. Think about it all you Mom's and Dad's, a world without trouble making teenagers. Perfect kids. No wonder why so many parents in to movie want their kids to join the Blue Ribbon Club.
At the very most, "Disturbing Behavior" could have been a guilty pleasure. But the film, directed by David Nutter, doesn't even manager to elicit that much gratification. Actually, there's hardly anything remotely pleasing in the entire movie. No thrills. No excitement. No surprises. With the exception of a few moments, this movie is a complete waste of time.
Screenwriter Scott Rosenberg conceived a decent concept, but movies are about ideas, not a single good concept. He stretches the individual concept across 84 minutes of movie, and that leads to many problems. There isn't enough conflict to keep audiences interested, and it wastes most of its time filling the scenes with characters roaming the neighborhood.
The film does show signs of good ideas hidden deep within, but it doesn't deliver create images out of those ideas. The little juicy material present is but a temptation. When a movie makes us want more, that's great. But when it makes us want more and doesn't deliver, that's not so great. Instead of deliciously initiative situations and sexy surprises, we get scene after scene of bland dialogue. Example:
Rachel: What now? Steve: We go home. Rachel: Where's home? Steve: Wherever.
The film also suffers from casting miscalculations. Although James Marsden, Nick Stahl, and William Sadler support their flat, one-dimensional characters with adequate performances, Katie Holmes and Bruce Greenwood do not fit their characters in the least. Holmes is a fine young actress, but she's not a gothic town rebel, and Greenwood is also a good actor, but he's definitely not a sinister villain.
"Disturbing Behavior" even lowers itself to a level of inconceivable incompetence. It delivers long-awaited love scenes under increasing plausible circumstances. A girl tries to seduce Steve, but instead bashes her own head against a mirror and leaves, before anything takes place. And how about the love scene near the end, where Steve and Rachel make love in the truck. Their town is being ransacked by evil minions, time is of the essence, and they take a time out to make love in a truck. I shouldn't complain, though, because it's the most indulgent scene in the movie.
I can't help but to question this film's title. What do they mean by disturbing behavior? There's nothing disturbing about this movie. It's tired, silly, boring hokum. Disturbing behavior? Well, perhaps they are referring the audience's response. I can't say this movie lost money, because with a $17 million gross, and a budget of $15 million, it made enough money to earn a profit. But considering most teen slasher film make title waves at the box office, $17 million isn't all that impressive.
(Minor Spoilers)
Prozac and Ritalyn fill the medicine cabinets of today's youth, yet "Disturbing Behavior" takes this generation to the next level, giving teenagers even more of an excuse to consume such drugs. Just what we need, another reason for young people to be paranoid about what their parents are planning for them.
In theme, "Disturbing Behavior" can be compared to one of my all time favorite movies, Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange." It manifest engaging ideas about society and freewill. "A Clockwork Orange" lunged into the subject with shocking perversity and artistic expression, but "Disturbing Behavior" lacks exactly what is counterpart explores.
Falling captive to conformity and peer pressure from the recent string of popular teen slasher movies, "Disturbing Behavior," misses almost every opportunity to provide audiences with satisfying material. It takes the point-of-view of a typical teenager named Steve Clark (James Marsden from "X-Men"), who doesn't have much time to react to the suicide of his older brother (Ethan Embry) when his family packs their bags and moves to a nice little town called Cradle Bay.
Local stoners Galvin (Nick Stahl) and U.V. (Chad E. Donella) greet Steve during his first day at the new high school. A an attractive loner, Rachel (Katie Holmes), predictably snatches Steve's attention. The school's mentally challenged janitor, Dorian Newberry (William Sadler), obsesses about the town's rat population in the basement. All in all, though, Cradle Bay is a pleasant village.
But then Galvin rants about the school's elite club, the Blue Ribbons. He think's they're brainwashing all the town's teens. Steve initially thinks nothing of his new friend's paranoia, until he himself discovers the technologically diabolical plans of the school's principal (Bruce Greenwood): the villainous faculty plans to turn all of the local teens into being of sole perfection.
This man's idea sure would end half the problems of society, wouldn't it? But just for kicks, lets say that this is a bad thing. And besides, what would the world be like if teens couldn't get themselves into trouble. Think about it all you Mom's and Dad's, a world without trouble making teenagers. Perfect kids. No wonder why so many parents in to movie want their kids to join the Blue Ribbon Club.
At the very most, "Disturbing Behavior" could have been a guilty pleasure. But the film, directed by David Nutter, doesn't even manager to elicit that much gratification. Actually, there's hardly anything remotely pleasing in the entire movie. No thrills. No excitement. No surprises. With the exception of a few moments, this movie is a complete waste of time.
Screenwriter Scott Rosenberg conceived a decent concept, but movies are about ideas, not a single good concept. He stretches the individual concept across 84 minutes of movie, and that leads to many problems. There isn't enough conflict to keep audiences interested, and it wastes most of its time filling the scenes with characters roaming the neighborhood.
The film does show signs of good ideas hidden deep within, but it doesn't deliver create images out of those ideas. The little juicy material present is but a temptation. When a movie makes us want more, that's great. But when it makes us want more and doesn't deliver, that's not so great. Instead of deliciously initiative situations and sexy surprises, we get scene after scene of bland dialogue. Example:
Rachel: What now? Steve: We go home. Rachel: Where's home? Steve: Wherever.
The film also suffers from casting miscalculations. Although James Marsden, Nick Stahl, and William Sadler support their flat, one-dimensional characters with adequate performances, Katie Holmes and Bruce Greenwood do not fit their characters in the least. Holmes is a fine young actress, but she's not a gothic town rebel, and Greenwood is also a good actor, but he's definitely not a sinister villain.
"Disturbing Behavior" even lowers itself to a level of inconceivable incompetence. It delivers long-awaited love scenes under increasing plausible circumstances. A girl tries to seduce Steve, but instead bashes her own head against a mirror and leaves, before anything takes place. And how about the love scene near the end, where Steve and Rachel make love in the truck. Their town is being ransacked by evil minions, time is of the essence, and they take a time out to make love in a truck. I shouldn't complain, though, because it's the most indulgent scene in the movie.
I can't help but to question this film's title. What do they mean by disturbing behavior? There's nothing disturbing about this movie. It's tired, silly, boring hokum. Disturbing behavior? Well, perhaps they are referring the audience's response. I can't say this movie lost money, because with a $17 million gross, and a budget of $15 million, it made enough money to earn a profit. But considering most teen slasher film make title waves at the box office, $17 million isn't all that impressive.