Eighteen-year old
Matthew Kidman (Emile Hirsch) is a straight-laced overachiever who
has never lived life - until he falls for his hot new neighbor
(Elisha Cuthbert). When Matthew discovers his perfect "girl next
door" is a former porn star, his sheltered existence spins out of
control.
CRITIQUE
The Girl Next
Door has some rewards and is sporadically funny, plus it's not
exactly the usual teen sex comedy we see every year, but overall
the film is just okay, only a decent two hours of entertainment.
To its benefit, it stars the very hot and body-ilicous Elisha
Cuthbert from TVs 24 and a small part in Old School.
The casting of Emile Hirsch is kind of a draw. At times he looks
like he isn't enjoying himself around the company of Ms. Cuthbert,
but at other times he is. And then he performs well in some
scenes, but not in others.
American Pie
started a new trend, and this film sort of builds on it, but
whereas I rooted for the main characters in American Pie, I
didn't much care for the outcome of Matthew's dilemma and whether
he gets the girl or not - then again it's pretty much predictable
he will end up with her. The script doesn't adhere to any standard
formula. There's quite a few subplots, such as Matthew wanting to
be president, his fundraising for an exchange student from
Cambodia, Eli's aspirations to be the next Spielberg, and Timothy
Olyphant's presence as a friend/baddie, but throughout the film I
felt the various story threads didn't add up well enough to a
cohesive whole.
I don't dislike the
film, I just didn't connect with the main character as much as
director Luke Greenfield wanted me to. Oh yes, there's plenty of
sexual innuendo, plus a few good scenes featuring T&A, but the
drama of the character situations and actions didn't translate as
effectively as they should have. More importantly, it seems to me
Greenfield doesn't explain very well the reason why Elisha
Cuthbert's character takes up such a strong interest in Matthew.
The film presented
here is the unrated version not seen in theaters. A friend of mine
pointed out some extended and/or added shots, mostly featuring
nudity, though the extra stuff doesn't make the film better.
Overall, The Girl Next Door is an enjoyable way to spend
two hours, I don't deny that, yet portions of the film left me
hanging (no pun intended).
THE VIDEO
Fox presents
The Girl Next Door
in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Picture quality looks good
without any major problems. There's bits of grain but no
compression artifacts. Colors are bright and well saturated. A
few images look soft, but detail is good. Black levels and dark
tones look good.
THE AUDIO
Fox presents
The Girl Next Door
in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround. Dialogue is clear and
easy to understand. The rear speakers enforce the sound effects
and the music quite nicely. There's no noise in the
presentation, overall it's a clear track. Additional soundtracks
include Spanish and French 2.0 dubs. Optional subtitles include
English and Spanish.
THE EXTRAS
The audio commentary
by director Luke Greenfield divides into discussions about
the film and the production. He spends some time talking about
the story and characters, and at other times lets the listener
in on some production trivia, or not. I mean, it depends. The
more you like the film, the more interesting the commentary.
The trivia track follows the formula of VH1's Pop-up video,
there's some interesting information but that's it.
The
bulk of the special features are on the other side of the disc. The
menu intro is a nice one. The features start off with scene-specific commentary by Elisha Cuthbert
(5 scenes) and Emile Hirsch (4 scenes). Cuthbert says she didn't
want to do any nude scenes, but she was willing to go further than she
has before. She also discusses rehearsal and her character, plus some
other things. Not a bad compilation of comments, I have to say. As for
Emile Hirsch, his tracks range from good to okay, discussing his
character, the specific scenes, working on set, etc.
The Eli Experience is next, but I have to say this extra is
actually pretty strange. Actor Chris Marquette is escorted by
beautiful women to the Las Vegas sex convention, or something to that
effect. The part where unsuspecting visitors try their part in a sex
scene with a hot model becomes too odd when Marquette starts spurting
out directions.
A
Look Next Door is the film's making-of featurette, and at nine
minutes it's a pretty decent one. Interviews with Greenfield, Hirsch,
Cuthbert, Timothy Olyphant, Marquette, Paul Dano, James Remar,
screenwriter Stuart Blumberg, producers Charles Gordon and Marc
Sternberg, and others are featured. Characters are discussed, the
production is referenced, loads of on-set footage is shown, as are
film clips, and so on.
The
3-minute gag
reel has some funny parts, but it's mostly flubbed lines and
random talk into the camera by the actors.
Then there are 16 deleted and extended scenes with optional director's commentary,
including the original ending with Matthew lighting a cigar at what
appears to be the balcony of the US Senate. The majority of these
scenes are fine and add a few things to the film, but not by much -
the "adult education" scene plays well though.
Rounding out the extras is a stills gallery and a variety of
trailers, including the "diRRRty" trailer to the film, a DVD promo
reel, the Club Dread DVD trailer, and There's Something
About Mary DVD trailer.
And then, apparently, there's some Easter egg that I didn't
stick around for. The 109-minute unrated feature is divided into
twenty-eight chapters.
FINAL THOUGHTS
An enjoyable film at
times, The Girl Next Door should appeal to the younger crowd.
The unrated DVD edition features some decent extras, and therefore
comes recommended.
