The Girl Next Door (2004 film)

The Girl Next Door is a 2004 American romantic comedy film about a high school senior who falls in love for the first time with the girl next door, but finds the situation becoming complicated after he learns that she is a former pornographic actress. It stars Emile Hirsch, Elisha Cuthbert, Timothy Olyphant, James Remar, Chris Marquette and Paul Dano and is directed by Luke Greenfield. The film received mixed reviews and low theatrical attendance at the time,[1] but over time has gained cult film status.[1][6][7][8]

The Girl Next Door
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLuke Greenfield
Screenplay by
Story byDavid T. Wagner
Brent Goldberg
Produced byHarry Gittes
Charles Gordon
Marc Sternberg
Starring
CinematographyJamie Anderson
Edited byMark Livolsi
Music byPaul Haslinger
Production
companies
Regency Enterprises
New Regency
Daybreak
Epsilon Motion Pictures
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • April 9, 2004 (2004-04-09)
Running time
108 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20–25 million[2][3][4]
Box office$30.4 million[5]

Plot

Ambitious high school senior Matthew Kidman has been accepted to Georgetown University, but cannot afford the tuition. He has raised $25,000 in order to bring a brilliant Cambodian student, Samnang, to study in the United States, but finds little else truly memorable about his high school experience. His life suddenly changes when a beautiful new neighbor, Danielle, moves in next door. Matthew witnesses her undressing from his bedroom window, until she sees him and storms over, knocking on the door and introducing herself to his parents. They suggest to Matthew that he show Danielle around town. During the car ride, however, Danielle wasn't mad at Matthew but makes him run naked across the street as revenge.

Matthew and Danielle bond through a series of flirtatious dares, including one that culminates with the two skinny dipping in Matthew's principal's swimming pool. At a raucous party thrown by a classmate, Matthew finally finds the courage to kiss Danielle. She is receptive, and they become a couple of sorts. The next day, Matthew's reverie is shattered when his friend Eli informs him that Danielle is an adult film actress.

On Eli's advice, a still-stunned Matthew takes Danielle to a sleazy motel and treats her coolly. Danielle, insulted, realizes that he has discovered her past and abruptly ends their relationship. Matthew later attempts to apologize and reconcile, but Danielle believes that she will never be able to escape her past and decides to return to the adult industry. Matthew tracks Danielle down at an adult film convention in Las Vegas where Kelly, an adult film producer and Danielle's ex, menacingly warns Matthew not to interfere with his business. Matthew ignores him, convincing Danielle to leave the adult industry and begin their relationship anew.

Days later, an enraged Kelly abducts Matthew from school and physically assaults him, saying that Danielle's failure to film has cost him $30,000. Kelly offers to let Matthew erase his debt by stealing an award statuette from porn mogul Hugo Posh, but once Matthew has entered the house, Kelly calls in a burglary report and leaves the premises. Matthew narrowly avoids the police and rushes to a scholarship award dinner. High on ecstasy that Kelly gave him as aspirin, he improvises a deeply sentimental speech. Although he endears himself to Danielle, he loses out on the scholarship.

Kelly exacts further revenge by posing as Matthew's student advisor and stealing all the money Matthew raised for Samnang. Matthew fears that he will be implicated in the fraud and expelled from school. He turns to Danielle for help in recouping his losses. Danielle calls in two friends from her porn star days, and they agree to make a video for Hugo Posh on prom night using Matthew's classmates as actors. After the successful shoot, Danielle and Matthew have sex in their limousine. Despite Danielle's past, it is the first time she has truly made love.

The next morning, Eli calls Matthew in a panic, saying that the prom night tape has been stolen, jeopardizing their hopes of financial recovery. Matthew enters his house to find Kelly (in possession of the tape) talking with his parents and Principal Salinger. Kelly, in private, tells Matthew that unless he is given half of all profits, he will play the stolen tape immediately for Matthew's family. Matthew dares him to show the tape, saying that he no longer cares about his future, and Kelly obliges. Surprising everyone, Matthew and his friends have made a progressive, comprehensive sex ed tape rather than a porn film. With no more cards left to play, Kelly admits defeat as well as a grudging respect for Matthew.

Hugo Posh and Matthew make millions from the video. Hugo Posh pays for Samnang to come to the United States. Matthew then has enough money to attend Georgetown, and he takes Danielle with him to Washington, D.C.

Cast

Reception

Box office

The film grossed $14,589,444 in the US, plus $15,821,739 outside the US, for a combined gross of $30,411,183.[5]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 56% approval rating based on reviews from 159 reviews, with an average rating of 5.60/10. The site's consensus reads: "The movie borrows heavily from Risky Business, though Hirsch and Cuthbert are appealing leads."[9] At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average average score of 47 based on 32 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[10] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B+" on scale of A to F.[11]

Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter called it a "Sharp, vivacious comedy."[12] Desson Thomson of the Washington Post called it "An entertaining affair whose wild-card creativity never ceases to surprise."[13] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave it a B- grade and wrote: "Risky Business had a great opening act and then descended into contrivances. This genial cardboard knockoff is contrived from the start but gets better as it goes along."[14]

Joe Leydon of Variety gave it mixed review, criticising it for being "recycled" comparing it to Risky Business, American Pie, and '80s Brat Pack romances, and calling the script "shamelessly derivative". He describes the lead actors as "attractive but bland" but praised the supporting cast, especially the " scene-stealing turn" by Olyphant.[15][16] A. O. Scott of [[The New York Times] wrote, that the film "Offers a view of pornography that is nonjudgmental, even celebratory, but at the same time its premise -- that Danielle must be rescued from the shame and degradation of her old job -- suggests a more traditional, disapproving point of view. Instead of addressing this contradiction, the movie is happy to wallow in it, which would be fine if it had any real pleasure to offer."[17] Roger Ebert gave the film 1.5 stars out of 4, describing it as a "nasty piece of business" and faulted the studio for marketing the film as a teen comedy.[18]

Accolades
Year Award Category Subject Result Ref.
2004 Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie: Your Parents Didn't Want You to See The Girl Next Door Nominated
2005 MTV Movie Awards Best Kiss Elisha Cuthbert and Emile Hirsch Nominated [19]
Best Breakthrough Performance Elisha Cuthbert Nominated [19]

Soundtrack listing

References
  1. Rosen, Christopher (October 29, 2014). "The Juice Was Worth The Squeeze: Looking Back On 'The Girl Next Door'". The Huffington Post.
  2. http://powergrid.thewrap.com/project/girl-next-door
  3. "The Girl Next Door (2004): Destroyed by Poor Marketing". New Regency fully financed The Girl Next Door for $21 million and Fox distributed the film in most markets.
  4. "The Girl Next Door (2004) - Financial Information". The Numbers .
  5. "The Girl Next Door (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
  6. Jesse Carp (31 July 2012). "Girl Next Door Writer-Director Luke Greenfield Sets up Two New Features". CinemaBlend. The writer-director should be best known for his underrated 2004 cult hit The Girl Next Door, starring Elisha Cuthbert
  7. "Luke Greenfield to Direct Comedy Half-Brothers for Focus Features". Collider. 7 May 2019.
  8. John McDermott (17 May 2017). "The Internet Killed the Teen Sex Comedy". MelMagazine.com. The Girl Next Door (2004) is something of a cult classic now, but it failed to make its money back in theaters.
  9. "The Girl Next Door (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  10. "The Girl Next Door". Metacritic. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
  11. "GIRL NEXT DOOR, THE (2004) B+". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on 2018-12-20.
  12. Sheri Linden (February 23, 2004). "The Girl Next Door". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2004-03-07.
  13. Thomson, Desson (9 April 2004). "'The Girl Next Door': Bodies and Brains". Washington Post.
  14. Owen Gleiberman (April 7, 2004). "The Girl Next Door". Entertainment Weekly.
  15. Leydon, Joe (22 February 2004). "The Girl Next Door". Variety.
  16. Keith Phipps (2004-06-04). "The Girl Next Door". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 2019-11-15.
  17. Scott, A. O. (9 April 2004). "FILM REVIEW; The Perfect Girl, Except for the Résumé". [The New York Times]]. Archived from the original on 2015-05-28.
  18. Ebert, Roger (April 9, 2004). "The Girl Next Door". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  19. Cosgrove, Ben (2005-05-04). "Vicious Teens And Happy Drunk Lead 2005 MTV Movie Awards Nominees". MTV.com. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.