The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, April 16, 2007 - 5A Meyers a natural king on bloody 'Tudors' It looks like an installation in the Whitney. FILM REViEW Sstar is born? Shia LaBeouf carries A ? modest techie thriller By Nora Feldhusen ( Daily Arts Writer talking gets a new, boy- "The ish face in "Disturbia," in bilita which iTun Shia LeBeouf but o ("Holes") to th actually gets clock the girl after S i the f relating to her At Quality16 it. Al the minute pean details of her and Showcase dippi daily schedule. Paramount (whit "That's either audit the creepi- delic: est thing I've ever heard," she way responds, "or the sweetest." the n A quality make-out session desc ensues. At LeBeouf may not blow you husba away with his romantic ges- wife- tures, but in "Distrubia," you'll porn enjoy watching him on screen as mate a recluse teenager turned neigh- upon borhood hero. Mors The film follows Kale er liv (LaBeouf), who, after a devastat- Kale' ingcar wreck, flys off the handle day and turns his anger against the redh world and Spanish teachers. Kale His mother (Carrie-Ann Moss, his b fARTS IN BRIEF FILM Willis and Berry: Whose idea was this again? "Perfect Stranger" At Quality 16 and Showcase Revolution Halle Berry plus Bruce Willis plus steamy Internet chat rooms should add up to a thriller that's at least guiltily entertaining, but "Perfect Stranger" wastes its established Hollywood players on a middling mystery that's neither believable nor rousing. Rowena (Berry, "Monster's Ball") is a ghostwriter journalist whose latest project - to expose a corrupt senator - gets buried by men with the power to shut people up. Frustrated, Rowena switches investigative gears after a child- e hood friend mysteriously pops back up in her life only to be mur- a dered shortly thereafter. Rowena quickly finds her sus- pect in advertising mogul Har- rison Hill (Willis, "Sin City"), the married man who had been car- rying on quite the affair with her suspiciously deceased friend. To pursue Harrison, Rowena must enter the apparently danger- ous world of online chat rooms, being suspicious that his pattern of internet seduction played a role in the murder. After team- ing with a conveniently at-hand tech geek (Giovanni Ribisi, "Cold Mountain"), she begins a course of amateur espionage that quickly escalates into standard thriller fare. Blame it on director James Foley ("Glengarry Glen Ross") or the lackluster script, but the story's complex mystery is far too dense and ends up overly difficult to fol- low. Willis and Berry lack the heat to let the movie salvage some sex appeal from its inanity, so we're left following the hum-drum plot mechanics of office life and inter- net dating and awaiting the inevi- table dramatic plot twist. Even in its final thrust, "Perfect Stranger" is really just going through the motions. TED CHEN The cast of 'Arrested Development' moves on The Filter. michigandaily.com/thefilter Matrix") attempts to reha- te her son by canceling his es and Xbox subscriptions, nce Kale becomes subject ree months' house arrest for ing his Spanish teacher in ace, he really starts to lose fter a few weeks of eating ut butter out of the jar and ng it into chocolate syrup ch, despite the audience's ble moans, is actually quite ious), Kale finds a better to use his time: spying on neighbors in his quiet, non- ript suburb. first it's the customary and-seduces-maid-while- plays-tennis, kids-watch- -while-mom-cooks-dinner rial until Kale stumbles Richard Turner (David se,"TheGreen Mile"). Turn- es in the blue house next to s, mows his lawn twice a and wines, dines and kills eads. Or at least that's what suspects. He sets out with best friend Ronnie (Aaron Yoo, "Rocket Science") and new neighborhood hottie Ashley (Sarah Roemer, "The Grudge 2") to prove his lofty accusations. As Kale, LeBeouf exudes a hint of his "Even Stevens" goofi- ness, but he's almost all grown up, and his energy alone makes this mostly formulaic thriller downright fun to watch. He wisely cuts through the senti- mental pretense surrounding his role and focuses his perfor- mance primarily on the plot at hand. Unfortunately, thrillers like "Disturbia" tend to follow the same story and avoid delving too deeply into any of the characters - including the suspected killer. Who is Turner, and what's his issue? Full of coincidences and tense moments in which we are supposed to be frightened of this possible serial killer, "Disturbia" never builds a convincing case against the guy. Turner likes his privacy - he certainly doesn't appreciate Kale's spying - but is THE RISE OF SHIA LABEOUF * "Even Stevens"('99-03): The Disney sitcom is mostlytypical fare, but LaBeouf turned a few heads as a loud preteen. " "Holes"('03): Disney threw LaBeouf a bone withthis stellar Louis Sacharself- adaptation. Killer lizards, gold, etc. s "Project Greenlight" ('03): The result- ing movie goes nowhere, but we got to meet LaBeouf's mom. Aww. . . "Charlie'sAngels: Full Throttle";"Con- stantine";,"I, Robot" (03-05): Obligatory sidekick shtick. * "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints" ('06): Wait, this guy can act? that really all that menacing? That said, while "Disturbia" certainly doesn't break the mold of the typical thriller, it makes up what it lacks in creativity in letting LaBeouf do his thing. Whether he's wooing a girl, pull- ing pranks or playing vigilante from his bedroom window, his presence makes the cheap thrills more than bearable. By CAITLIN COWAN Daily Arts Writer A lady unlaces the front of her dress, a crown lies still on the throne and a body lies motionless on a Ct marble floor, to which Jonathan Rhys Mey- The Tudors ers intones is his gentle British tenor: "You Sundays at think you know a story, 10 p.m. but you only know how Showtime it ends. To get to the heart of the story, you have to go back to the beginning." Welcome to "The Tudors." A lush, bloodthirsty rendering of Henry VIII's reign, "The Tudors" is Showtime's answer to HBO's popular period dramas ("Rome," "Deadwood," "Carnivale") with Meyers ("Match Point") well-cast as King Henry VIII, the most notorious in England's history. Some critics have already dismissed Meyers's "phoned-in" performance, but the confident, sexy star does evil remarkably well. While scheming and ranting with his advisers, something dark and malicious sparkles in his eyes. He speaks forcefully, with a bit- ing, self-important tone that makes him a perfect fit for the role of a king with an insatiable appetite for power, prestige and sex. The show's unchecked jolt of hyper masculinity is undeniable. In just the second episode, Henry challenges the King of France to a wrestling match after the latter claims that France boasts Europe's best wrestlers - and the two of them immediately strip to the waist. Needless to say, if the real Henry VIII had taken on the King of France, it would have been more like a sumo match than a hot-body contest. In fact, this King Henry's pretty face and ripped physique are the only obvious problems with the show, since the real monarch was a large man with facial hair and a famously imposing belly - nothing like the model-esque Meyers. Doubtless the decisionto avoidstarring a fat brute with a turkey leg was based on the ultimate TV king: ratings. But if you can forgive this and some In "The Tudors," Meyers beheads unfortunate women with dueflair. of the other superficially miscast roles, there are plenty of redeeming qualities. In addition to the visual feast provided by the show's gorgeous set design, rich costuming and opulent jewelry, you get to watch Mary Boleyn, sister of the infamous Anne, go down on King Henry. It might not be as saucy as non-fic- tion orgy "Rome," but there's plenty of sex in "The Tudors," and enough intrigue to keep each episode moving English debauchery at its bloodiest and best. nicely. In the pilot, Henry wastes no time impregnating one of the Queen's ladies in waiting in his furious quest for a male heir to the throne - a necessity his barren wife could never provide. After reading Machiavelli's "The Prince," Henry remarks the author asks an important question: whether it is better for a king to be feared or loved. In Meyers's case, evil is made more palatable (and marketable) via great abs and an overcharged sex drive. Let the heads roll. C L A%SW OF '07 SPRING SPECIAL BUY YOUR COLLEGE RING AND GETA SampleRoundtrip Airfares From Detroit to: F R E E iP o dI 1sh u ff e . New York $131 London $410 Restrictions apply, ask your Jostens representative for details. StudentUniverse.com s e e k i n g rhCRY Join The Michigan Daily's advertising design team as an outlet for all of the creativity that's stirring inside your head. Currently Hiring: Designers for Fall '07 Date: April 18-20 Time: 11:00 am-4:00 pm Place: Ulrich's Bookstore Hurry! Offer Ends May 11, 2007 1.800.854.7464