April 26, 2005
The Girl Next Door
Elisha Cuthbert - Danielle
Emile Hirsch - Matthew
Directed by Luke Greenfield
You'd think this was a teen movie a la American Pie et al...but if that's what you're expecting, think again.
I really thought this was going to be a teen party, silly teenager gag type of movie...you know...the barf in the burger, the urine in someone's beer, the semen used as mousse...
But I was pleasantly surprised.
The Girl Next Door is actually very sweet film which, unlike those other cheap laugh teenage movies, actually has plot and requires thinking. Of course, it has its moments when you think something stupid/silly is going to happen, but lo, you've then fallen into the trap.
Matthew is going to graduate high school and go to Georgetown. We're told early on that he wants to be President someday. Oh, the trouble he can get into...
He seems a pretty straightlaced kid, but at the same time he's the same as any other teenage boy...namely in the hormone department. But don't be fooled, he's actually a sweet hormonal teenage boy, not the window-licking, leg-humping, slobbering teenagers we're used to seeing.
So he does drool a little, but the boy has a conscience about it, which is how he meets the girl next door, Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert).
She teaches him how not to be a dork, and allows him to experience high school like as he's always dreamt of (poor lad sits in his car, wanting to cut class and go to the beach with the 'popular' crowd, but his daydream of getting caught by the school guard and ending up killing someone in a fiery accident forces him to get out of his car and go back to school).
He's got his dorky friends, and now he's got his girl. Little by little we get to witness how his confidence begins to elevate. Until....
...he finds out his girl next door is really the porn star next door.
What happens next, you'll just have to see for yourself, as I highly recommend you rent this a.s.a.p.
No notably memorable lines, but still intelligent comedy/romance with an awesome soundtrack.
