MOVIE REVIEW - Disconnect

Newly out ,and in extremely limited release is the new cyber-space intense thriller, Disconnect.   

Many times we go to the movies to be scared. Hollywood tries slasher flicks, horror flicks and tons of body dismemberment tactics thinking that that will scare us.  I doesn't really.   All those movies are in sense, are bad car crashes.   You kind of have to watch to see how they do it.  But fear does not generally ensue, maybe a jolt or two.

Disconnect has none of the qualities mentioned above.  What this is, is a movie about the digital age we live in, and what happens every single time we talk on a mobile phone, send a text, e-mail or go on the web.  It dares to show you what happens to you, and your identity when we do what we do every day.   Some of it ain't pretty.

This is three separate stories all relevant to our world today.   The first one centers around social networking and kids at middle school, with a horrible case of cyber-bullying that really isn't far -fetched at all.  And the possible ramifications to the young  and the vulnerable. Then there is the case of identity theft, where a young couple loses all their money and what happens to their lives.  The third one centers around cyber-sex and that industry that involves young kids, the media, and laws that can be broken on the Federal level that many don't even know about.

The stories all eventually intersect and all come together in tidy manner.  But just as in real life, there really is no resolution that is absolute in either of our stories, just like real life.  Disconnect follows the same formula as Crash years ago, but so what?  It was  good formula then, and it works here.

This is a very eye-opening movie about the digital world that we so willingly live in, and it may be wake up call for many who see it.   Even though our characters themselves as humans make terrible decisions that lead to many of the problems in their lives, it shows how easy it is for all to be tied up worse than ever in cyber-space.   Skillfully, this movie does not blame their problems on the technology that exists, but it shows just how quickly it can quickly spiral out of control.

This has a great cast with Jason Bateman, best think he's done in a while. as this is not some screwball cookie cutter comedy with buddies.  And he lovely Andrea Riseborough, who is also the best thing in Oblivion with Tom Cruise right now. She is a wonderful new face in American theaters and she is solid here.  She has such a great look with a perfectly flawed appearance, and manner making her very real.  But in fairness, the star of this movie, is the movie and story.

Disconnect.  If you go, be willing to learn the truth you may be lying to yourself about.  This is pretty intense, and sometimes scary stuff.  Well done.