The Girl Next Door

The Girl Next Door builds up enough good will during its successful first half that we’re willing to forgive some of the strange and disappointing convolutions the plot takes us through during the final 45 minutes. There are two primary reasons why it’s not hard to recommend this likable romantic comedy: director Luke Greenfield and his screenwriters have a genuine feel of what it’s like to be a high school outsider, and it’s been a long time since there has been as appealing a young couple as Emile Hirsch and Elisha Cuthbert. (He’s 18 and she’s 21, and they play characters who match their real-life ages.)
In tone and temperament, The Girl Next Door owes a greater debt to films like Risky Business than to the Animal House-inspired comedies that have grown in popularity over the last five years. The film is rated R but has a PG-13sensibility. Tone down some of the sexual content and cut out the more overt nudity, and the girl next door can easily play to a younger crowd. Unlike American Pie, it dose not relay upon bawdy antics and bodily fluids. In fact, while there are several intensely embarrassing moments for the main characters, there’s not a legitimate “gross out” incident to be found.
The protagonist is high school senior Matthew, a quiet, studious boy who has used his education thus far as a stepping stone to the college of his choice, Georgetown But, when it comes time to write down a memory for the year book, he realize he doesn’t have one. Instead of living, he has played it safe while at Westport High School, hanging out with his two bets friends, Eli and Klits. That everything changes when Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert) moves in next door. She is a blonde bombshell running away from a porn star and eager to start afresh.
One night, Matthew spies her undressing through her bedroom window. Transfixed, he forgets the first rule of voyeurism – turn out the light in your viewing space – and, as a result, he gets busted. Danielle takes him for a little ride in her car, and demands tit for tat
He saw her, now she gets to see him. So, in the middle of a suburban street, he strips down to nothing. Soon after, he’s following her around like a lovestruck puppy. For her part, she feels something fresh and appealing about his innocence. But trouble arrives when her past becomes her present. A porn producer ex-boyfriend by the name of Kelly (Timothy Olyphant) arrives to bring her back to the business and to teach Matthew a few lessons from the school of hard knocks.

[Based on the post of James Berardinelli]