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 impressed
All 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: 2/10
DVD Version: 6/10
