The Girl Next Door (R, 2004)

In THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, good boy Matthew (Emile Hirsch) is just about to get everything he's been working for. He's on the verge of getting a scholarship to Georgetown and he's raised $25,000 to bring a brilliant student to America to study. Then one night he sees a gorgeous girl (Elisha Cuthbert) in the house next door, getting undressed. She sees him peeping and comes over -- she is house-sitting. They go for a ride and she asks him when the last time was that he did something crazy. The next thing he knows, he's standing naked in the street as she drives away. And soon after that, he and Danielle are up to mischief. All is dewy young love in soft focus until he finds out that she's a porn star. He is disappointed in her. She is disappointed in him because he is disappointed in her. Danielle goes back to her porn producer. Matthew goes after her. Kelly goes after him. The $25,000 disappears. Snobbish bullies must be shown up. And there is still that speech he has to give to win that scholarship.

Many films present prostitutes as the romantic ideal. But whether the movie is a silly comedy (Trading Places), a romantic comedy (Pretty Woman), a comedy with literary allusions (Mighty Aphrodite), or even a drama (Leaving Las Vegas and Klute), there is something uncomfortably misogynistic about these heroines. They always seem to be impossible fantasy figures, eternally available and unshockable yet somehow ineradicably pure, and, perhaps the ultimate fantasy, having experienced many men but preferring our leading man.

In the most cynical manner, this movie smugly attempts to have it both ways. It wants us to be titillated by Danielle's past and yet root for her innocent romance. It wants us to assume that she is both hooker and angel. The ultimate conclusion is all the more smarmy for trying not to be. The main actors give decent performances and there are a few moments of comedy, a better-than-average soundtrack, and even a little charm. But the overall themes are truly vile and the last third of the plot is both vile and stupid.

Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Director: Luke Greenfield
Cast: Elisha Cuthbert, Emile Hirsch, Timothy Olyphant
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 108 minutes
Theatrical release: April 8, 2004
DVD release: August 23, 2004
MPAA Rating: R
MPAA explanation: strong sexual content, language and some drug/alcohol use