THE GIRL NEXT DOOR
Reviewed by: Harvey S. Karten
Grade: B
20th Century Fox
Directed by: Luke Greenfield
Written by: Stuart Blumberg, David T. Wagner, Brent Goldberg,
story by David T. Wagner and Brent Goldberg
Cast: Emile Hirsch, Elisha Cuthbert, Timothy Olyphant, Chris
Marquette, Paul Dano
Screened at: UA 14th St., NYC, 1/21/04
Whoever said "Treat a lady like a tramp and a tramp like a
lady may be on to something. After all, deep down, aren't prissy
young women dying to break out, while the slutty ones secretly
long for a Prince Charming to elevate their station? Luke
Greenfield, who directed "The Girl Next Door," must be a true
believer, because he does a yeoman-like job in constructing a
high-school style comedy that says, "Move over, Farrelly
Brothers. You're not the only show in town." While the poster,
featuring the slinky, kinky title character, Danielle (Elisha
Cuthbert), gives the impression that the movie is a sweet and
sentimental story of a pretty young woman who falls in love with
the first person who really cares for her, well...yes...that is what
the story is about, but given the mainstream culture of today's
youthful audience, the ante is upped. Greenfield helms a
frequently riotous pic whose fast action and multiplicity of
creative scenes do indeed gell. If only the performers had more
depth (so to speak)!
One of the oldest male fantasies in the book is that of a guy
who is charmed by a pretty hooker, taking on the one-man job
of reforming her, and succeeding so well that she could pass for
the traditional girl-next-door the "Meet Me in St. Louis" type that
is nowhere to be found East or West of Salt Lake City. Since
Danielle, not a hooker but a highly-paid porn star and not the
sort who'd give up a high-paying gig during the prime of her life
in that career Matthew (Emile Hirsch) has his work cut out for
him. He must take on, in effect, a missionary position if he's
going to convince the first love of his life that "you're better than
that." Matthew, who is the senior president of Westport High
School in California, seems too bland and shy to garner many
votes from jocks and hotties alike, the epitome of boy scout
morality. Having been accepted into Georgetown University,
he needs to earn some big bucks to afford the tuition, which he
could conceivably do by winning a speech contest on the
subject of moral fiber.
When Danielle moves next door to Matthew temporarily as a
house-sitter, Matthew, who does not have a date for the senior
prom, is stricken: this is love at first sight. Discovering what she
does for a living, he is nonplussed for a while. To make an
honest woman of her he needs to convince her agent Kelly
(Timothy Olyphant) to release her, but even more important, to
show Danielle that no profession of hers, however lucrative, can
compete with the love of an honest man.
Working with a script by a committee of four (usually a bad
sign), Greenfield evokes credible performances from the
ensemble, including the stereotypical suburban parents
(Timothy Bottoms and Donna Bullock) and a bevy of babes
hired by the Matthew to give a home-town, money-raising
performance for a worthy cause while at the same time helping
to convince Danielle to mend her ways. Top credit goes to
Timothy Olyphant as Kelly, a funny man who could remind you
of Billy Bob Thornton in both looks and character. Kelly, who
tries to hold on to Ms. Cuthbert's Danielle, goes into active
competition with the 18-year-old boy, a tug of war that provides
the principal humor of the picture. By contrast, Cuthbert more
Marilyn Monroe than Charlize Theron is given little to do other
than to giggle, look pretty, and provoke Matthew's fantasies.
The leads are well supported by Chris Marquette and Paul Dano
as Matthew's two best friends, all in the service of moving the
two principals more temperamentally close to each other. The
shy Matthew is liberated by the porn star while Danielle, hardly
ready to become a scout leader, is nonetheless predictably
"saved" by a kid with high moral fiber.
Rated R. 106 minutes.(c) 2004 by Harvey Karten at
Harveycritic@cs.com
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