The Girl Next Door

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!

Responsibility for "The Girl Next Door"'s poor performance at the US box office - as well as over here - can be laid firmly at the feet of Twentieth Century Fox's marketing people; the tagline "Matt never saw her coming - but all his friends had!" made it seem like a full-on sex comedy, when it's actually a lot more than that; director Luke Greenfield and writers Stuart Blumberg, David T. Wagner and Brent Goldberg put more emphasis on the characters than the raunch, which makes all the difference. There's more to the movie than the sight of Elisha Cuthbert in a thong (in interviews she revealed that it is indeed her there... if not elsewhere in the movie).

The debt this movie owes to "Risky Business" - starting with the score by ex-Tangerine Dream member Paul Haslinger (Tangerine Dream scored "Risky Business") - is pretty clear; both movies have bright but slightly life-challenged graduate students given to fantasising about things that go wrong as their main characters (step forward Emile Hirsch as the sympathetic hero), both have sex-obsessed best friends, both have women in the sex business as the main female characters who come into the hero's uptight life and help to liberate him, and both have sleazy male bosses (Timothy Olyphant plays the Guido equivalent). The movie also has the same mostly restrained view of its story where other movies would have played up the farce aspects - the only real hi-jinks come when the movie's plot takes in the Adult Film Convention in Las Vegas - but "The Girl Next Door" is a lot more engaging and has a lot more heart than "Risky Business" (good though that movie is, charm is not its strong point), with the title character seen as more of a person than a masturbatory object both by our hero and by the movie. When she goes with a motel with him and starts to play up The Porn Star, you really hope they don't go through with it.

The mood set up in the early stages is so convincing that when Olyphant's porn producer character turns up the movie seems to turn into another one entirely (and if you go to see this because of Elisha's "one for the men" status, I must warn you that she spends alarming amounts of time off-screen); it's still a good one, but it damages the overall movie's tone, and for most of the rest of the movie it veers back and forth between sweet and sleazy... but the amazing thing is that "The Girl Next Door" actually manages to find a happy balance of the two by the time the prom climax arrives (with more echoes of "Risky Business" en route, for sure).

True, there's no actual sex seen and little nudity, but the cast works so well and the movie's so sincere that by the end it doesn't seem like a ripoff. With good use of songs blending with the score, well-done fantasy sequences, and a welcome dose of intelligence in its writing, "The Girl Next Door" is probably the most adorable movie to get an R rating since "Pretty Woman," and well worth seeing even if you don't have a thing for Kim off "24." But this isn't for the "Daily Sport" crowd. Which is their loss.

"The juice was worth the squeeze."

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...

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. (****/*****).

Oh, to a neighbor like Elisha Cuthbert. Not that my neighbors are bad. Want a cup of sugar? Just knock. Want help will the ball cock in your toilet? Ring next door. All of this is incredibly beneficial, but oh, to have a neighbor like Elisha Cuthbert!

Elisha plays the 'girl' in the new teen film The Girl Next Door directed by Luke Greenfield (The Animal). Her name is Danielle and she arrives just when neighbor Mathew Kidman (Emile Hirsch) is writing a speech in hopes of getting a scholarship for his portrayal of moral fiber. But one look at the stripping Danielle from his bedroom window to hers leaves every fiber pointing in a different direction.

This small act of voyeurism leads to all sorts of trouble as Danielle notices her admirers' gazing and immediately heads next door to confront young Matthew. The result of their new courtship would lead to public nudity, breaking and entering, skipping school, taking drugs and everything else that we used to brag about without merit in High School.

And just as everything seems to be going extremely well for the young Matthew, one of his geek buddies reveals her true identity, that of an up-and-coming porn star. This revelation comes shortly before the arrival of her pimp film producer Kelly (Deadwood's Timothy Olyphant) who throws a wrench into the infatuational plans of the two neighbors and leads Matthew down a path that jeopardizes his endeavor to win the scholarship. Soon, Kelly and Matthew are attending strip clubs, meeting in Vegas and eventually, the two are involved in a robbery where Matt tries to win the freedom of the young Danielle.

Much has been made of The Girl Next Door's resemblance to the 1983 Tom Cruise film Risky Business. Truly, the comparisons cannot be more obvious. Instead of hookers, we have porn stars. Instead of a house party, we have a prom, and where there is a family heirloom in play with Cruise's film, Hirsch must pull out all the stops in order to obtain a $25,000 bank account that was amassed to bring a Cambodian teenager to America.

But with all these comparisons evident, I enjoyed The Girl Next Door more. The High School situations have been updated, and I believed in how Matthew could be easily drawn into his world of love and admiration, something I didn't feel with Cruise and DeMornay.

Don't get me wrong, The Girl Next Door will not have the impact of Risky Business nor will it be the catapult for either Hirsch or Cuthbert that Business was for Cruise. But it still was a rather enjoyable film. Not filled with situations bordering on the asinine (see American Pie's 2 through 3), The Girl Next Door was a smart film that resembled a John Hughes film of the early 1980's. I enjoyed all the characters from the geeks who are trying to find their sexual niche to the awkwardness and mature awakening of Matthew through the ordeal of following his dreams. Whereas adolescent films recently have skewed into gross out comedy in such entries as The New Guy, American Pie and Van Wilder, The Girl Next Door gives us something fresh, a progressive out of character plot backed by the love of a beautiful woman.

All these funny and interesting struggles lead to the senior prom where the result might seem far fetched, but at least it seems as if the director meant it not to be taken with any notion of seriousness. We understand the good guys from the bad guys and the movie makes no attempts to throw a surprise or two our way. Maybe in its simplicity, it has found the answer to rejuvenating the youthful film movement.

So, back to my original blabbering. Oh, to have a neighbor like Elisha Cuthbert! First noticed wearing pink panties in the 2003 popular film Old School, she is something to behold. But can she fix a ball cock? Don't answer that!