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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Coming off like a shotgun
marriage between "Risky Business" and "Ferris
Bueller's Day Off," "The Girl Next Door" embodies
every teen fantasy in a clever but predictable
"what if" story. What if a beautiful girl moved in
next door, she happened to be a teen porn star
that wants out of the business and she falls in
love with you?
Matthew Kidman (Emile Hirsch) is a bright kid,
attractive kid who just can't seem to lose his
virginity. He is also the neighbor of Danielle
("24's" Elisha Cuthbert) who is house sitting for
her unsuspecting aunt. She's on the run from her
past and her pimping (and dangerous) boyfriend
Kelly (Timothy Olyphant) who wants her to return
to the business so he can make more money. Matthew
gets sucked into the middle of all this and, in
the process, gets set up by Kelly. Now Matthews
must quickly come up with $25,000 or face the
possibility of going to jail and watching his
promising future go up in smoke.
Although "The Girl Next Door" becomes predictable
much too quickly, it has some very funny moments
and will appeal primarily to the teen crowd it's
directed toward. This unrated version has quite a
bit more bad language and nudity than in the
original R-rated version that played in theaters.
Saved by the likeable duo of Hirsch and Cuthbert
and an edgy performance by Olyphant, "The Girl
Next Door" provides enough laughs to make it an
entertaining diversion for an evening. It's not
something you'll go back to again and again but
it's not bad for a single viewing.
Since this is the unrated version viewers may be
expecting nude scenes of star Cuthbert. There
aren't any and the only major difference between
this and the R-rated version of the film is that
the porn movie that Matthew's friend Eli is
watching in the film is a bit more explicit.
Additionally, the scenes in the strip club removes
the digital tops the performers wore.
Bouncing breasts and strip clubs have never quite
looked this good before (well, with the exception
of "Showgirls," but then very little of what we
saw there was real). OK, let's move on: The vivid,
sharp images and nice color reproduction highlight
this DVD. The sequences set at night look
particularly sharp with few digital blemishes to
mar this fine transfer. Sound comes across as full
but is a bit bright and brittle in a couple of
sequences. Overall a very good transfer.
As an extra, we get to view the gag reel. Although
it's touted as unrated, there's no big deal here.
"The Eli Experience" follows Matthew's fictional
friend after he becomes a famous film director at
a porn convention. Eli pretends to be auditioning
folks for his next major motion picture. It's shot
as if it's a documentary so the off-the-cuff feel
contributes to its charm. It's got some funny
moments, particularly the odd sequence where the
big boyfriend of a porn star goes around asking
men if they would make love to him. The reactions
appear genuinely befuddled as if these were
unsuspecting folks that happened to be passing by.
Although this bit goes on a bit too long, it's
funny for the first couple of minutes.
The extended, censored and deleted scenes really
are no big deal either. There's nothing you
wouldn't have expected. Most of the scenes were
cut because they bogged down the action or threw
the comedic timing off. The alternate ending
likewise isn't a big deal providing a glimpse of
Matthew and Danielle's predictable future. The
deleted scenes and the alternate ending come with
optional commentary by director Luke Greenfield.
Bottom line: The unrated edition looks good, has
more nudity, some funny extra bits and comes with
pretty nice extras. Although it isn't a movie that
I would recommend to everyone, for 20-something
guys it's not a bad evening of entertainment. The
humor and fantasy elements of the film will
certainly appeal to this crowd. Will it cause the
downfall of civilization? No. Will it be
remembered as one of the ten best movies of all
time? Again, no. |
