Retro Nerd Girl Movie Reviews: Disturbing Behavior 1998 Movie Review

From the far reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy, It's Retro Nerd Girl with a quick spoiler free film review for you.

Today I'll be reviewing the movie Disturbing Behavior released in 1998.

Starring:
James Marsden, Katie Holmes, Nick Stahl

Directed by:
David Nutter

Genre:
Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi

Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Rating:
R

Budget:
$15,000,000 (estimated)

Current IMDb Rating When Reviewed:
5.5

The Synopsis is:
Steve Clark moves to a new town only to find that the High School elite, the Blue Ribbons are mind controlled to be higher achievers by the faculty and parents. Eventually they want to transform the entire student body to make them perfect students.

This film reminds me and is often compared to The Faculty released in the same year, but 5 months later. Comparing the two, I would pick the Faculty as a better movie over all because it’s far more concise of a story.

But this film actually has the superior concept since the prospect of brain manipulation is much more reality based than an alien parasite invasion… for the time being at least, thus having a creepier effect on the viewer. What a fantastic hypothetical situation and just I love it!

The premise is so intriguing. It’s the idea of taking someone who is slightly rebellious and getting them to behave as it were, to your liking. It’s a modern take on the Stepford Wives released in 1975 and Clockwork Orange released in 1971, with a maniacal scientist, Dr. Edgar Caldicott, seeking to make the youth of the world more obedient.

Even though many of the scenes were entertaining, it just left me with a lot of questions about why characters are doing what they are doing.

One of the unreasonable parts about the film is that the candidates for this procedure aren’t necessarily naughty kids. They like rock and roll, enjoy things outside of academics, and dress the way they want. They don’t always do what their parents prefer them do or like, but they are not delinquents, they are simply being themselves.

When the students undergo Dr. Caldicott’s program, they lose unique behaviors which express their feelings. They don't express love anymore because they have lost their self identity. Who are we really, if we remove the expression that make us unique enough to contribute to our homes and communities?

The film insist on pushing the fear of having the parents sign their kids up for the program, but we have no context to understand why. All the adults in the film are portrayed as jerks except for the Janitor.

I felt that the parents in this film were misled and completely neutered by their lack of understanding. And it is totally plausible to an extent. During the teen years both parents and kids have trouble understanding each other.

It’s hard enough for Steve to fit in at school because he is still adjusting to his brother’s suicide. It seems as if his father doesn’t want to even address the situation because he doesn’t want to face those feelings himself. His father thinks that the program would be the perfect thing to get Steve to move on.

The disconnect for me was that I wish that at least a few of the parents would have been more in tuned with what was truly happening to their children.

I also thought that it would have been great to see how the students had creative passions before and how it benefited the town or school to show us the benefits of a society of with people who engage in a wide spectrum of interests. Truthfully, the community would be absorb the biggest impact.

I think it would have been an even better idea to have the students actually be seduced and apply for the program themselves, playing upon their desires to become high achievers. Wanting to succeed is something we all want on some level.

I love the idea that it’s scary to think that something so basic could go so wrong. Dr. Caldicott’s program would be a moderate success if it didn’t inadvertently create delinquents.

The students become snobs and are prone to extreme, and I mean extreme violence whenever they are attracted to another person.

Many of them become flat out murderers and its all covered up by with the corporation of the police, which is not explained in the film at all.

But just maybe, there was an explanation for all of the action that we see in the film.

The rumor mill reports that the film was actually 30 minutes longer and was cut down to please multiple test audiences. Many of the cuts scenes are also lost forever, so I pretty much think we got robbed of a really great film. All the pieces are there. They just don’t fit they way they stand.

This is all coming from the era of the late 1990’s where the teen horror genre exploded with identical formulas and nearly every poster was the same. Studios were pumping out these films like crazy.

As you would expect in a teen genre film, many of the female characters were used as objects for the male gaze. I usually don't mind that, but I wasn’t too crazy about the fact that the female characters in the film were often brutally slut shamed for no reason whatsoever.

The action was pretty awesome, and I enjoyed the pacing quite a bit. Everything really revs up by the second half of the film. But you are not going to believe this but there is a scene that was pretty much taken beat for beat from Total Recall. I didn’t hate it. It was pretty entertaining!

If it weren’t for the great performances by the actors this would be hard to watch. Everyone sells this movie.

Nick Stahl was a big stand out in the film delivering fantastic monologues throughout the film. It was a complete joy to watch in every scene he is in.

He has the task of playing dual roles in the part of Gavin where he begins the film as an outsider and a rebel thinker clever enough to discover what is going on. Then he is transformed into a blue ribbon upholding Dr. Caldicott’s ideal to the utmost.

Bruce Greenwood and William Sadler were fantastic in this but terribly underutilized.

Steve Railsback is in this but unfortunately given nothing to really do but show up in two scenes. Like what? He's an amazing actor. Give him a juicy role for crying out loud! LOL!

James Marsden was a great lead for the film. I always love seeing him on screen and I find that his acting never fails in whatever he’s in.

Katie Holmes was great in this. This is the first film I ever saw her in and she pretty good in it.

Again, even with it’s massive problems, I really enjoyed this film. Fantastic open title music. Fantastic song at the credits. Great late 90’s music. Great acting. Fantastic high concept. Great cinematic moments. However the execution could have been better.