DISTURBING BEHAVIOR
Release Date: July 24, 1998 Starring: Jimmy Marsden, Katie Holmes, Nick Stahl, Steve Railsback, Bruce Greenwood, Ethan Embry, Katharine Isabelle Directed by: David Nutter Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer MPAA Rating: R (terror, violence, brief language) URL: http://www.execpc.com/~kinnopio/reviews/1998/disturbing.htm
Since late in 1996, with the release of the ever-popular thriller SCREAM and the revival of the horror genre into pop culture, there have been five thriller pics that were specifically made for the teenage demographic. Sequentially, each has gotten more campy, more absurd, less believable, and less fun. The low point was 1997's SCREAM 2, which lacked all of the elements that made its predecessor so much fun. DISTURBING BEHAVIOR, the latest entry from veteran TV director David Nutter, may not be an original, but it had its moments.
Jimmy Marsden (TV's SECOND NOAH) and Katie Holmes (TV's DAWSON'S CREEK) head up a cast of actors of similar pedigrees. In fact, almost everyone involved with the production here has a filmography that is nine-tenths television. And why not? The guaranteed way to attract a good percentage of the Oxy-10 crowd, most of which spends several hours in front of the tube each day, is to pick actors they know and like. Above all, though, they weren't chosen for their acting ability. Marsden is a Tom Cruise look-alike, and Holmes wears chest-hugging sweatshirts; both are there to simply fill the role and get oogled by members of the opposite sex. In fact, the only one of appreciative talent here is Nick Stahl, whose performance as the drugged-up, burned-out Gavin Strick is quite dynamic and believable.
Marsden is the lead as Steve Clark, a troubled but mostly put-together young lad who is moving with his family to the picturesque town of Cradle Bay after suffering a death in the family. Like any kid, Steve's a bit nervous about his first day at his new school, and when he gets there everything seems normal enough. That is, until he meets Gavin, who introduces him to both the inner workings of the school and his friend Rachel Wagner (Holmes). Gavin has an avid hatred of the Blue Ribbon Club, a group of A-plus students that do philanthropic work. However, these students are also strangely prone to overloaded sex drives (no joke, really) that often result in violence. So Steve, with the help of Rachel, learns that there's a sinister hand behind all of this, and the only question the movie doesn't answer is how deep it runs.
The acting may not be top-quality, but writer Scott Rosenberg (CON AIR) manages to include some amount of genuine thrillerism. His premise reeks of campiness in the "Twilight Zone" sense, but it does lend itself to scenes which are tense and exciting to watch. Most of the movie is filmed in dark and ominous settings, and a good deal of the time that builds atmosphere to the point where everything is watchable. Still, the film's main detractor is its inability to grasp anything solid, worthwhile, or even realistic, and the viewer will be plagued by that realization once it comes. At its best, this is passing entertainment, and at its worst, this is good comedy. Hopefully, it falls in between.
FINAL AWARD FOR "DISTURBING BEHAVIOR": 2.0 stars - a fair movie
-- Craig Roush kinnopio@execpc.com -- Kinnopio's Movie Reviews http://www.execpc.com/~kinnopio
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