There never seems to be a dearth of teen movies, so it's a big compliment that Girl Next Door manages to stand out in the crowd and actually make you not want to tear your hair out or wish you watched something else. It goes even a step further and makes you follow the premise, care about the protagonist and absolutely admire the girl.
I'll admit that the only reason I even ventured into a sneak preview for this movie to begin with was the girl, Elisha Cuthbert. She plays Danielle, an ex-porn star still in her teens, who has the sexy look and come-hither pout mastered down to an exact science. The movie wouldn't work if we couldn't believe that Danielle could be a girl you are likely to run into in your neighborhood (we can all hope) and an adult movie star at the same time. By the time the movie ends, Elisha Cuthbert is more than worth the ticket, but it's a funny and enjoyable movie for many other reasons.
It all starts with Matt (Emile Hirsch), our everyday straight-arrow kid, who feels that it would be a good time to finally end his social exile with graduation only a few weeks away.
It's a good idea but his geeky best friends Eli (Chris Marquette) and Klitz (Paul Dano) can't quite come up with a plan that doesn't include attending all their classes.
Soon Matt finds something better to do than prepare for a scholarship speech when he finds a beautiful girl moving in next door. One night his voyeuristic fantasies come true when he catches an illicit glimpse of the gorgeous Danielle. He's soon busted (that's what you get when you forget to turn the light out); now it seems only fair that he has to return the favor. So with this most unusual of introductions, Matt and Danielle soon start falling for each other. She likes his na??ve and unassuming nature and he is just mesmerized by her looks and wild streak. Alas, this bliss is broken as soon as the resident porn guru and wannabe filmmaker, Eli, finds out about Danielle's (or Athena as she is better known in her cinematic travails) true past.
The movie peaks with a scene that follows this discovery. Eli convinces Matt that there is nothing more incredible than taking a famous porn star to a cheap motel and doing what she does best; an episode which Cuthbert handles with brilliance. Danielle toys with everyone's emotions at will -- and you can almost hear yourself thanking the heavens above that this movie didn't take a potentially awkward scene and turn it into one big cheese-fest.
There is a new character introduced in the shape of Kelly (Timothy Olyphant), Danielle's manager, who wants to take her back to "work". Initially, Kelly and Matt get along; Kelly is a big brother type showing the school go-getter the ropes of living life without a few rules. I guess Matt didn't quite grasp the whole concept since he decides it's time he convinced Danielle to quit her profession. We all know that next to Colombian drug-lords and Sicilian mafia, Hollywood smut producers are probably next in line as people not to mess around with.
This is where the movie gets a bit messy and toys with autopilot mode. The plot quickly gets too convoluted for it's own good, yet it retains its sense of humor and delivers very funny moments. It becomes an exercise in rooting for what we know will probably happen; it's just a matter of how we get there. Director Luke Greenfield (probably better not mentioned that he made The Animal) does know what the movie's main strength is -- Emile and Elisha's pairing -- and he makes sure that the camera doesn't stray from them for long. By the time the movie ends, you are probably thinking less about why a lot of things don't make sense the way they turned out and more about how it just felt right on the whole.
The best part about The Girl Next Door is that it takes itself lightly and enjoys the opportunity to do so. It features an excessive use of slow motion and quick editing, yet it shows that you can forgive almost anything as long as it achieves what it set out to do.
There are no long passionate speeches or teary wails and even the sincerest of moments are lightly airbrushed. Maybe The Girl Next Door is like a porn movie on some level: the premise is funny, the actress is hot and you learn a thing or two about quirky human relationships.
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