The Girl Next Door

THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, Luke Greenfield's sexy yet sweet teen angst flick, owes a lot to both the RISKY BUSINESS premise (HS Senior, his goal a prestigious college, has his life turned 'upside-down' by world-wise 'Pro'), and the internal structure of John Hughes' 80's teen 'classics' (geeky hero, and his two geekier friends, gain acceptance and prestige through his relationship with a 'dream girl').

Close your eyes, and you could easily picture the young Anthony Michael Hall or John Cusack filling Emile Hirsch's role, with Rebecca De Mornay or Kelly Preston replacing Elisha Cuthbert as his ex-porn star girlfriend. THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, however, actually works quite well, thanks to Greenfield's 'tongue-in-cheek' approach to the naughtiness, and a flawless supporting cast, particularly Timothy Olyphant as a likable but ultimately ruthless porn producer, and Timothy Bottoms and Donna Bullock, as Hirsch's clueless but blindly supportive parents.

Emile Hirsch shows a propensity towards 'soulfully earnest' expressions, but does provide one of the film's funniest scenes, as, while high on Ecstasy, he attempts to navigate through a crowd awaiting his speech on 'high moral fiber'. While some critics tended to brush off Elisha Cuthbert's performance as just another skin-baring 'boy toy' variation, she actually conveys the vulnerability and pain of her character's past quite effectively, balancing it with sly humor and a LOT of 'sex appeal', done within the restraints of her "No Nudity" contract clause...Sorry, guys, while you'll see a LOT of her skin, you AREN'T going to see Elisha 'bare all'...

The film is a very funny, breezy lark, and while it never achieves the heights of insanity of RISKY BUSINESS, it certainly stands as one of the better 'teen' comedies of the past few years!

Matthew Kidman (Emile Hirsch) is a high school student and he is also a straight laced overachiever. Matthew never really lived life until he falls for his hot new neighbor (Elisha Cuthbert). But Matthew and his new neighbor have a nice relationship going until Matthew's close friend (Chris Marquette) discover that Matthew's girlfriend is a former porn star. Matthew's sheltered existence spins out of control.

Directed by Luke Greenfield (The Animal) made an fresh, somewhat original High-School/Romantic outrageous comedy. Hirsch is a young likable leading man. Cuthbert is simply beautiful. The film's scene stealing performance is Timothy Olyphant as a Porn's Producer. The film also stars:James Remar (The Warriors) and Paul Dano (L.I.E.) in nice supporting roles.

DVD gas an sharp anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) transfer (Also in Pan & Scan) and an fine-Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. DVD also has an commentary track by the director and a trivia track.

The Unrated DVD has the same Widescreen transfer and sound quality with the same commentary track by the director and a trivia track. The DVD new features are a behind the scenes featurette, an extremely funny featurette, a hilarious hidden feature and more. Some people might call this "Risky Business" meets "American Pie". But this is a good hearted wild comedy. Do not miss this. Screenplay by Staurt Blumberg (Keeping the Faith), David T. Wagner (National Lampoon's Van Wilder) and Brent Goldberg (Underclassmen). From a story by Wagner and Goldberg. (****/*****).

This is an enjoyable yet ultimately forgettable film. The "boy rescues cute girl from terrible life" plot has been done many times before, no doubt in many better ways. Emile Hirsch performs passably well with the material he is given, and the luscious Elisha Cuthbert provides plenty of eye candy that she could not show in 24. The rest of the characters are one-dimensional and barely worthy of mention. But the show belongs to Timothy Olyphant. Although he does not even appear until halfway through the film, his role makes the entire movie worth watching again. He screen presence is palpable as the ultra-cool bad boy that every man secretly wishes to be. Scruffy, chain-smoking, alternately funny, friendly then dangerous, he owns every scene in which he appears. Seeing this film makes one that much more anxious for the next season of JUSTIFIED to begin!

Wicked Sexy Comedy, thats just what may sum this movie up... Its not quite just another punk movie from Hollywood, but this one's different... It's about devotion and love...

I bought the DVD expecting just another teen movie, but was quite surprised... Elisha Cuthbert looked like a goddess... Totally cool... The plot is also nice, about a porno star who falls in love with just another ordinary kid... Emile Hersch also does a nice job, playing that ordinary kid... His friends especially 'Eli' is totally cool, and will bring you on your knees with his antics... I wont say much, cos it will spoil your anticipation... Buy the DVD, its loaded with special features, fully packed with it... Its worth every penny...

I did not see this movie in theaters. I usually wait for teen films to come out on video before viewing them. I must say, the way this movie was marketed, one would figure that this flick is along the lines of such classics as Bring It On and Can't Hardly Wait. Though this movie definitely is now part of the illustrious teen film library, it runs a little bit deeper than the average adolescent flick.

As the title suggest, this movie does have Risky Business written all over it. The characters (the pimp vs the adult film director) the props (glass egg vs the golden "trophy") as well as the music and language definitely give this film an updated twist on RB. However, it would be erroneous to write this film off as a rip-off, it just isn't afraid to show it's influence.

Emile Hirsch is great as Matthew Kidman, the ambitious high school senior (who actually looks like he's in high school) with an Ivy League future. Straight and narrow, his life is spun on it's head once Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert) enters the picture. Cuthbert, playing a free-spirited porn star, actually gives a rather understated performance that is sincere and sweet. Matthew's once planned out life is now lived more on the edge, and with that, he encounters some interesting characters, such as Kelly, the shady porn director, played flawlessly by Timothy Olyphant.

However, as the film progresses, the movie didn't delve as deeply into Cuthbert's character as it should have. No insight into her background, how did she get to where she is right now, etc. She also takes a back seat to the growing tension between the Matthew and the sleazebag Kelly. I must say, Olyphant is great in this film. He goes from being hilarious to charming to scary in the span of about five minutes and steals almost every scene he's in. The other supporting characters are great. Chris Marquette (Eli) and Paul Dano (Klitz) are funny as Hirsch's dorky friends, and hopefully Marquette will land more roles like this. They too seem to become more adventurous once Danielle enters the picture, what an influence one person can have.

So in the end, this does have a lot of the typical teen flick campiness. There are jocks, hot chicks on campus, geeks, and the movie itself has plenty of swearing, bathroom humor, slapstick, you name it. There is a sweetness to the movie, as it's amazing what a person will do when they fall in love. This movie has plenty of twists and turns, so come along for the ride and have some fun.