Directed by: Luke Greenfield
Written by: David Wagner, Brent Goldberg, Stuart Blumberg
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Elisha Cuthbert, Timothy Olyphant
I honestly can't remember how I ended up watching this movie. I kind of expected to be a horny, immature teen comedy, and I guess that's the idea, because the movie does a good job of subverting a lot of the expectations associated with those sorts of movies.
*Warning: Potential Spoilers Ahead*
The movie starts with Matthew Kidman (Hirsch), a senior in high school, class president, a studious worker, and a bit of a social outcast. Towards the end of the school year, a girl moves in next door, surprisingly; Danielle (Cuthbert), a beautiful woman becomes Matthew's new neighbour. The two quickly build a relationship, and for a while things are good, but then the relationship changes when Matthew discovers Danielle used to be a porn star.
Rather than have some juvenile fantasy where Matthew has 24-hour sex with Danielle after this revelation, he actually struggles with the idea. Danielle also doesn't behave like a porn star just because Matthew finds out; she liked Matthew because he didn't look at her as if she were a piece of meat. The movie does this a few times, suggesting that it will behave like a sex-comedy and instead acting more as a commentary on our expectations of sex-comedies.
The film is jarringly edited in its first act, giving you just enough as it quickly jumps up the first few steps of the story. A lot of the first few scenes simply end with a fade to black before moving to an unspecified time later, and there's multiple montages to quickly imply character and relationship development for Matthew and Danielle, before breaking them up and introducing Kelly.
Timothy Olyphant is a real highlight here as Kelly, Danielle's ex-producer and ex-boyfriend; he's creepy and yet charismatic, a total piece of slime that manipulates people to his own benefit as he sees fit, Over the top without being ridiculous, Olyphant is the best part of this movie.
The Verdict: The Girl Next Door is an ok film that goes against the expectations of a sex-oriented comedy but never completely removes itself from their tropes, and has a little bit of social commentary that doesn't feel entirely forced, if unbelievable as it comes to a close. Timothy Olyphant is surprisingly great, completely creepy in his role and definitely makes the second-half of the movie more enjoyable. I don't think I would straight-up recommend this, but if you're bored and have a couple of hours, it wouldn't be a waste to spend them watching this. Inappropriate for children, in case that wasn't already clear.
Rating: 5.5/10
Published July 14th, 2016
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