★ 7 / 10
***The Stepford Teens, sort of*** When a Chicago
Wuchak
***The Stepford Teens, sort of*** When a Chicago family moves to an island in the Puget Sound, Washington, Steve (James Marsden) encounters the usual cliques…
***The Stepford Teens, sort of***
When a Chicago family moves to an island in the Puget Sound, Washington, Steve (James Marsden) encounters the usual cliques at his new high school, but there’s something odd about the Blue Ribbon Club, a circle of high-achieving students who get a pass from the police when they screw-up. Nick Stahl plays Steve’s new friend, Katie Holmes a potential girlfriend and Katharine Isabelle his sister. Bruce Greenwood is on hand as a dubious school psychologist.
The set-up of “Disturbing Behavior” (1998) is similar to the same in “Twilight” (2008), but there are no vampires and werewolves. I won’t say more about the plot, except that it includes elements of Dr. Frankenstein and “The Stepford Wives” (1975). This isn’t really giving much away as the movie telegraphs everything from the get-go and so is kind of predictable.
Yet the Great Northwest locations are spectacular, the cast is good, particularly Marsden and Stahl, and the story is compelling enough. It’s just laden by a been-there, done-that vibe. Still, it’s way superior to the similar “The Faculty” (1998), not to mention more serious. It’s also arguably better than comparable flicks from the time period, like “Scream” (1996), “I Know What You Did Last Summer” (1997), “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer” (1998), “Urban Legend” (1998), “Jawbreaker” (1999) and “Final Destination” (2000). “Bad Girls from Valley High” is on par (which was shot in 1999, but not released until 2005).
The original length was 115 minutes, about 32 minutes longer than the released version, but producers found it too long and so cut out scenes that supposedly helped the movie to make more sense. Personally, I didn’t feel the movie was hard to grasp and never felt lost. But the last act needed more finesse because it does seem awkward and rushed; for instance, the mental hospital sequence flashes by so quickly you might miss it if you blink.
The film runs 1 hour, 23 minutes, and was shot in the Vancouver area, British Columbia, including Bowen Island.
GRADE: B
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★ 7 / 10
Studio Hack Job
The theactrical release of Disturbing Behavior is an utter mess of a movie. It has plot holes that the biggest human being in the world could jump through. It…
The theactrical release of Disturbing Behavior is an utter mess of a movie. It has plot holes that the biggest human being in the world could jump through. It moves along at an uneasy pace and at 83 minutes it isn't much of a movie. However, this isn't the filmmakers fault. Blame the studio that released the film. They basically ordered him to cut everything that made the movie make sense and what we got to see was a studio hack job.The Dvd on the other hand is another story. It provides at least 20 minutes of deleted scenes and when you watch them along with the rest of the movie everything begins to make sense and it makes me grow a new-found appreciation for the film. It isn't cinematic gold but when you look at what the film was like before it may just look like a masterpiece.The premise is pretty unique. In Cradle Bay failure and misbehaving is a no no. You wil be perfect....or else. When newcommer steve moves to cradle bay he meets gavin who thinks a sinister force is taking over the kids of cradle bay turning them into a group of kids known as the the Blue ribbons. The blue ribbons appear to be perfect with their good grades and bake sales but beneath the surface lies a mal-function that makes them act violently.What I Liked:The character of Gavin in both versions of this film remains intact. I completely loved this character and he's played really well y Nick Stahl. I was quite impressedAll the Blue Ribbons are creepy as hell. It's like they came out of an acid-induced version of leave it to beaver or the Brady Bunch.i like the general idea of the film. Someone trying to make teenagers perfect because we know not we do was pretty interesting to me.I liked th entire Dvd version of the film. It honestly explains so much and it raises the films level from crap to about average.What I Didn't Like:The theatrical release is filled with mistakes. It's too short, the pacing is off, and it ends on a pretty sour note. There are no redemming aspects of this version except for the character of Gavin.The scene in the insane asylum was pretty dumb. I don't expect much realism out of these films but this was above and beyond being real.The characters with the exception of Gavin don't really fit their roles. I didn't by James Marsden as a hero. He was quite bland as well. Katie Holmes, who is actually good on Dawson's Creek and in The Gift, and Wonder Boys, doesn't really fit as the rebel gothic girl.i suggest that everyone that bashed this movie, like me when i firt saw it, go see the DVD version. I promise you that you'll have a better understanding on what is going on and it may make the film a little better for you.Theatrical Version: 2/10DVD Version: 6/10
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there is a longer version