Despite its rather notable shortcomings when compared to its obvious predecessor, 1983’s raunchy teen classic ‘Risky Business’, I’ve always been a fan of Luke Greenfield’s ‘The Girl Next Door.’ The affable performances from the pic leads Emile Hirsch and Elisha Cuthbert balance out the bawdiness nicely and it’s smarter than the cover would lead you to believe.
Had the script by Stuart Blumberg and David T. Wagner & Brent Goldberg been tightened up just a bit, we might have been dealing with our direct answer to ‘Risky Business,’ but a few glaring issues in plausibility and tone keep this firmly in the good category but not great. But I digress.
After a fun opening montage set to Queen and David Bowie’s ‘Under Pressure’ giving us an oft-told, but wink-wink, breakdown of school cliques, we come to rest on pic protagonist Matthew Kidman (Hirsch) whose student council president existence is resulting in little adventures to write down in his yearbook remembrance section.
On the cusp of graduation and a competition for a Georgetown scholarship where he’s been accepted but is evidently short of funds, straight-arrow Matt is about to partake in a life-changing night. Taking out the trash, he notices a gorgeous blonde Danielle (Cuthbert) moving into the house next door. They share a smile but soon share more when she catches him spying on her from opposite bedrooms and forces him into a midnight car ride which leaves him nude and streaking home.
They eventually strike up something of a relationship with the crazier Danielle dragging Matthew along for some fun. He soon finds out that Danielle isn’t so innocent when porn-obsessed friend Eli (Chris Marquette) crushes his world in one fell swoop i.e. a push of the play button.
At first, he’s a bit rattled but after a disastrous attempt to treat her like a porn star, he vows to again treat her like the girl next door.
Too late – the porn career she left behind comes back to find her with the very pimp-like porn producer Kelly (Timothy Olyphant) showing up to reclaim her property. Taking her to Vegas for a porn convention, it’s up to Matt and pals to follow them and convince Danielle that she’s better than that. Will Kelly take his best gal getting courted away from the industry lying down?
Emile Hirsch and Elisha Cuthbert make endearing leads with Hirsch showing some of that flair he will later bring to pics as varying as ‘Into the Wild’ and ‘Milk’ to ‘Speed Racer’.
Cuthbert doesn’t have much to do but look amazing and look amazing she does. Supporting work is equally effective with Timothy Olyphant being the most notable as the menacing, smarmy yet oddly sympathetic Kelly and Paul Dano and Chris Marquette providing the requisite nerdy friends with Paul Dano, of course, going on to be terrific as the preacher in ‘There Will Be Blood’.
A number of small annoyances kept taking me out of the film but some clever final twists end the film on a recommended note and major props to a particularly savvy soundtrack that includes a plethora of well-picked songs from the last five decades.
The AVC 1080p transfer is simply okay with a moderate amount of grain but very little in the way of HD flash – color and detail is often muted and while it’s a step up from the DVD, the difference is marginal. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is a bit better mainly because of the constant stream of great songs.
Special Features are carried over from the DVD and consist of an audio commentary by director Luke Greenfield that’s competent if not particularly exciting, ‘The Eli Experience’, a short prank vid shot at the adult film expo shown in the film, ‘A Look Next Door’, a quick making of with various interviews from cast and crew, a short ‘Gag Reel’, ten minutes of ‘Deleted and Extended Scenes’, and finally scene specific commentaries from Emile Hirsch and Elisha Cuthbert where they offer up some comments on a few scenes.
The film itself comes recommended and really is a step above seemingly similar fare like ‘American Pie’ or ‘Fired Up!’ as the filmmakers were trying for a bit more smarts by way of 80s fare like ‘Risky Business’ and the more subversive elements of John Hughes and succeeds on it’s own limited terms. Nothing new in the extras department and the high-def video leaves something to be desired but recommended for those that missed it the first time.
The Girl Next Door (Unrated Edition) [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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