Teen comedies always turn up big business at the box office, this is generally due to the fact that the creative forces behind these movies include plenty of crude humor, sex, and nudity as can be allowed under the MPAA ratings system. Most of the time these teen comedies are a dime-a-dozen, opening big and fading shortly thereafter, with little lasting appeal with audiences. However, there have been some successes in the genre that have had more staying power than others, examples would be "Animal House", the `Scary Movie' franchise, and the `American Pie' series. With those examples of successful teen comedies, they all have some common traits in which they share, basically they are packed full of sex, nudity, and crude humor and language. However, one thing these examples of successful teen comedies, and even the unsuccessful ones lack is any amount of heart or soul in the story. In 2004, Fox Studios produced yet another teen comedy to appease the masses for a short while, "The Girl Next Door". Starring Elisha Cuthbert (TV's "24") and an unknown lead actor named Emile Hirsch, "The Girl Next Door" would stand out from the other teen comedies that have come before it or even after it, for this movie contained the one thing that I said was lacking in those others, that is heart and soul.
"The Girl Next Door" is the story of 18-year-old Matthew Kidman (Emile Hirsch), a straight-laced, overachieving, good boy who has never really lived life to the fullest. That is, until he spies his incredibly sexy neighbor (Elisha Cuthbert) changing in the window, and finds that through his desire to be with her, he will do anything and everything to be with her. But, Matthew gets thrown for somewhat of a loop when he discovers that his perfect `girl next door' is actually a former porn star, who is trying to forget about the life she used to lead. Now, Matthew's sheltered life quickly begins to spin out of control as he attempts to help his new girlfriend leave the life she knew to embrace the life she longs for.
The reason I feel this movie is far and above those other teen comedies I listed, some of which I enjoyed by the way, is like I said earlier "The Girl Next Door" contains plenty of heart and soul in its story. This movie isn't simply about having sex, yes there is that obligatory teen comedy element in this movie, but this movie is actually about the discovery that sex isn't the only thing to look for in a relationship with someone. To prove that point the main character in the story, Matthew, who by the way is played perfectly by Emile Hirsch, is forced to learn that to have a true meaningful relationship with a woman, he must get past his lustful desire to only want the physical body, with no regard for the emotional side of the woman. A lesson he has to learn the hard way, and it forces his character to mature throughout the story, until finally he is able to have a committed relationship with this `girl next door', as he discovers that she is more than just a beautiful woman, and former porn star, and in fact that she is a person with real feelings. And all she asks of Matthew is that he move past her former life and see her for who she truly is.
The writing in this story is better than most contained in this type of movie, generally the story is fairly thin, and is pretty much there to link each crude joke to the next or to bridge the gap between sex scenes; however, in this movie the story is the main focus, yes there are the crude jokes and a couple of sex scenes, but the story isn't simply a minor plot device to get the audience to these obligatory teen comedy sequences. The actors all do a very good job of bringing their characters to life, and appear to be enjoying themselves immensely with the roles they've been given. Elisha Cuthbert and Emile Hirsch share a great chemistry that helps to elevate this movie to almost a romantic comedy level, instead of just teen comedy. Timothy Olyphant ("A Man Apart" and "Scream 2") makes several appearances throughout the film as a shady porn producer, and he manages to steal almost every scene that he's in, and actually provides Matthew with some rather sage advice, though inadvertently I might add.
If you are a fan of teen comedies, but are perhaps tired of the same old thing, then check out "The Girl Next Door", I promise you it is more than your average teen, gross-out sex comedy.
"The Girl Next Door" is available in both rated R and Unrated editions, both contain language and sexuality/nudity.