If you blinked you missed it as The Girl Next Door spent little time in the theaters. This is a shame because it is a unique take on the romantic comedy, about a high school senior whose life is turned upside down when a porno actress moves in next door.
The film opens with high school students reading aloud their yearbook quotes which capsulate their greatest memories of their young lives so far. Matthew Kidman (Emile Hirsch) is lost for words. He has always done the right thing as student council president, honor roll student, and model citizen. For this he has received admission into Georgetown University, but has lived an uninteresting life. He gets the urge to take a risk when he notices all the popular seniors skipping classes as the school year winds down, but he still needs a spark to set him off. The spark comes in the form of the fiery blonde Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert) who moves in next door.
One night Matthew is innocently gazing out his bedroom door when he sees Danielle. He is instantly head over heals. She begins to disrobe and she catches him watching her. Only in the movies do attractive people get naked with the blinds wide open, not that there is anything wrong with that. Danielle arrives next door introduces herself as a house sitter and Matt’s parents decide he should be neighborly and show her around town. They meet here for the first time face to face and through some wacky adventures they fall in love. Unbeknownst to Matt she is a porno star and throughout the movie Matt must come to terms with this if he wants to be with Danielle who simply wishes to start a new non-porno life.
The whole movie plays on the irony that a porno star could be living next door and embody that as American as apple pie wholesomeness. Elisha pulls it off alternating between cute and affectionate while other times portraying an utter sex-bomb. A lot of that has to do with the clothes that she wears and how her hair is styled whether all glam or tied up in a ponytail. Emile does an excellent job as a teenager coming out of his shell finally taking risks and living life at all costs. I couldn’t get over how he resembles Leonardo DiCaprio in his appearance and movements. A person like this shouldn’t have trouble getting noticed, but then again this is a movie. The rest of the very capable main cast is rounded out by
