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The Girl Next Door

The strikingly bold and beautiful bombshell, Elisha Cuthbert, has had a few bit parts in widely renowned films that have had commercial success with selective targeted audiences: the partying frat guys and the girls who love a tear-jerking date movie. She even played the helpless revealing daughter of Jack Bauer on Fox’s 24. This recognition of marketability of her being eye candy paired with a soon to be rising star in teenage wasteland of comedic gold proved to be the grounds for this blonde Canadian number to lead.

The Girl Next Door takes that sweet cliché image we all have in our mind and adds a little twist to this idea of the perfect girl that resides in the next house over. Matthew Kidman (Emile Hirsch) is a proper and intelligent teenager on the verge of graduating high school in search of memories that he can take with him. It’s not until he meets Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert), next door, that his life is taken on a wild and crazy ride he will never forget, as she pushes him to do things he never would dare to do. One of his buddies, though, shows him a videotape revealing that Danielle is in fact a porn star. When old friends from Danielle’s industry show up, they’re not too fond of her breaking away into the arms of Matthew.

The Girl Next Door puts a different spin on the high school comedy genre, as it deals with sex, but in a vulgar sense of it. These guys aren’t trying to get laid, as they use sex as a means to expand their horizons and get them out of the trouble they dug themselves into. There’s also the profound sense of danger intertwined in the plot. I haven’t seen something like this since the days of Risky Business. Only difference is, instead of prostitutes and killer pimps, it’s porn stars and porn moguls.

It’s a comedy that has sex branded all over it. Personally, I thought the use of it was tasteful and not exploited, being it’s a movie about porn. But I have to say it was funny as hell. Emile is this perfect emblem of doing the right thing, but he’s brought out of his shell by Danielle, where it gets wild and crazy. The side characters are unbelievable, as Timothy Olyphant has a presence that is shocking and intense at certain points.

A modern twist on the teen comedies, The Girl Next Door delivers laughs at a constant rate. Sure it’s a little outlandish and stretches to the far reaches of a teenager’s imagination, as it might come off as a fantasy, but hey, it’s a movie. Get over it.

Written by: John Berkowitz

Reviewers Rating: 7
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