Customer Reviews

The Girl Next Door [VHS]

5 star:		(102)
4 star:		(72)
3 star:		(29)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

There is a point in "The Girl Next Door - Unrated Edition' (which I received and promptly devoured, extra's and all, in one sitting) where the movie is in danger of changing in tone and focus from American Pie to Showgirls, but luckily for the movie - and viewers - it recovers itself and ends in a definite teen comedy spirit.

I never saw this movie in the theater so I cannot comment on what has been added to this "unrated edition" but there is certainly quite a lot of nudity, but nothing involving the main actors. There are some graphic scenes at a strip club (including lap dancing) and we get shots of one of the main actors watching a porn video at home. There are some nude scenes from behind of both principal actors Emile Hirsch and Elisha Cuthbert, but as Hirsch points out on Side B of the disc (where most of the extras are located) the movie used a stand-in for those shots.

I have a word of caution regarding the list of extra's on the Amazon page. One is titled a scene specific commentary by Hirsch and Cuthbert. What we have here though is not a commentary for the whole movie from the two stars, but rather several scenes on the flip side of the disc in which the two actors both give separate commentary.

Largely (and unjustly) ignored at the box office this teen comedy starts of really well and within the first few moments had me rolling with laughter. The movie starts with a montage of sorts, we see the jocks, brains and cheerleader-types all stating, for their entry in the yearbook, what they "will always remember."

Then there is Matt (played by Hirsch) who is pondering this question. Sure, he has had a successful academic career - as illustrated by his acceptance to Georgetown - but he really hasn't done anything memorable in his senior year of high school.

That's about to change for Matt though with the arrival next door of Danielle (played by Cuthbert), who plays a breathtaking beauty house-sitting for his neighbors.

Entranced by her Matt is unable to stop himself from watching Danielle undress in the window opposite his bedroom - but he is spotted. From that moment he is on a rollercoaster ride. Danielle, amused and evidently attracted to Matt, shows him the excitement of living on the edge, from running naked through the streets to moonlight skinny dipping in his school principal's pool.

Just as everything seems to be going so well between Matt and Danielle, Matt is shocked when one of his best friends Eli (who is a connoisseur of porn movies and full of in-experienced sex advice) shows one of his porn movies - in which Danielle is the main star.

Foolishly following some of his friends advice, the two part company and moments later the movie changes tack and takes on a decidedly darker and more serious tone as Matt becomes sucked into the shadowy world of the pornographic movie industry.

What follows is both inventive and highly amusing. How will Matt afford to get into Georgetown? What will become of Danielle? These are just some of the questions in this entertaining movie that borrows heavily and liberally from a number of the John Hughes movies of the 1980s and the AMERICAN PIE movies of more recent years. The movie ends on a high note in a conclusion that is both satisfying and enjoyable.

Now onto the part that most readers of this review are more interested in - the extra's. On Side A of the disc we have an OK director's commentary from director Luke Greenfield and an at times amusing and at other times fascinating trivia track.

Then on Side B of the disc we have the aforementioned seven to eight scene specific commentaries from Hirsch and Cuthbert (Hirsch curiously has one more) and deleted and extended scenes with optional directors commentary. None of these scenes are of any particular value to anyone but completists or fans of the movie. They add nothing to the feature, but do have a curiosity factor to them. They also chose the better of the two endings also.

Of more interest is an amusing featurette in which actor Chris Marquette (who plays Eli in the movie) poses as a porn producer and lures in all too interested men (there'e a cute blonde on the bed afterall) who get decidedly less interested (for the most part) when the girl is replaced by a big burly guy.

We are also offered a stills gallery and a VERY short gag reel as well as trailers for a couple of other like-minded movies in addition to one promotional trailer for several other Fox titles. There is also a trailer for THE GIRL NEXT DOOR with the subtitle `Dirrrty,' which in reality isn't really that much of a big deal.

All in all, this is a good and entertaining movie, it seems to lose its footing half way through but successfully and engagingly returns to top form before the final credits roll. This is a definite must-buy for fans of the movie and the genre and certainly great entertainment

The honest answer is no.
And that is extensive to the unrated version of the movie.
Why? Ok let me se...


For a movie that is only 5 or 6 years old, the transfer shouldn't look older than it does. The transfer is just a modest upgrade of the less-than-reference quality picture included on the original DVD.

Too much noise/grain and inconsistent color levels are the main offenders here, with the occasional edge enhancement creeping in as well. Night time and indoor scenes have the most issues, but our first reveal of Cuthbert in a wet, white shirt looks near-perfect, picture-wise. Colors are mostly set to a permanent dull hue, and in some instances are muddy, which is surprising given the quality of most Fox offerings. Trust me, this isn't blu-ray quality.

So if you have the DVD version of it, stick to it and don't change it for the Blu-ray version, you can even find a DVD unrated adaptation of it, plus you won't loose money on it!

As for the extras and unrated part:

The 16 Deleted or Extended Scenes are definitely worth watching. You have a play all option with commentary from director Greenfield. One scene featured actress Amanda Swinton losing it when she had to put a condom on Klitz, who wore a fencing mask to do the scene. She struggles to keep a straight face and loses it at the end. Most were cut for pacing purposes, which is a shame, because a lot of these scenes had moments of genuine emotion that really humanized the movie. We also get the original ending that - get this - Greenfield cut because people at the test screenings thought Matthew was in the White House when he's standing in front of the Capitol Building...anyways...

The movie's first trip on Blu comes with most of the bonus content present on the unrated SD release.

* Audio Commentary by Luke Greenfield
* Scene Specific Commentary by Emile Hirsch
* Scene Specific Commentary by Elisha Cuthbert
* "The Eli Experience" Featurette
* "A Look Next Door" Making-Of Featurette
* Gag Reel
* Deleted and Extended Scenes (Including the Original Ending)
* Theatrical Trailer, "Dirty" Edition


The only extra missing from the previous SD release is the Pop-Up trivia track, but viewers aren't missing much. The stand-outs here are the director's commentary and "The Eli Experience" featurette. The unrated version is nine minutes longer, but they are nine minutes that do nothing for the movie but increase its running time, and pad it out with an extra few seconds of nudity. So for you people, that means the disc gets the DVD equivalent to a Cable Ace award.

"The Eli Experience" is a riot. Chris Marquette, who plays Eli, goes to the Adult Industry Expo, held during CES, and mingles with the porn stars. In a Howard Stern moment, hulking ex-pro wrestler Matt 'Horshu' Wiese walks up to men at the expo asking them if they want to make out with him. Man this has to be seen!

As for "A Look Next Door" is a standard making-of EPK, and the Gag Reel runs three minutes long as features many on-set screw ups. It's funnier than most gag reels, but it's not worth a repeat viewing.

The movie isn't awful, but you would think the Blu-ray version is better than it really is. The direction is component, but unremarkable, the performances are fun but not unified, and the Blu is one of the weakest catalog titles Fox has released on the format so far. Watch the movie; it's acceptable rainy day entertainment. But don't trade in your DVD for the supreme BD experience, because it is not there. Ironically, most of us wouldn't have seen the movie in the first place if they didn't agree to casting Elisha Cuthbert.

This movie is mindless fun. It's not as good as your "American Pie" or early 80's sex comedies (i.e. Porky's, Last American Virigin), but it does have a little bit of heart to go with all the overblown fluff.

Matthew Kidman (Emile Hirsch) is just your everyday average nerdy senior- whose never even gotten close to getting laid. He's terribly envious of all the popular kids in school who seem to be having the time of their lives. Howver, he's so out of their league that he really is quite pathetic.

Enter Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert) the new girl next door. After Mathew lamely busts himself by getting caught watching Danielle change by the window, and a quick act of revenge by Danielle, the two become friends.

Mathew is too much of a wimp to make a move on Danielle, but she eventually eases him out of his shell more and more each day. When at a party and one of the jocks begins hitting on Danielle, Matt finally makes his move and kisses Danielle.
Looks like the kid has some balls after all! Good job Matt.

Matt eventually finds out that Danielle is a washed up porn star, and she has moved in next door to start a new life as a clean and wholesome girl. That is until her ex boyfriend and manager Kelly (Timothy Olyphant)strolls into town to haul her off to the annual Las Vegas porn connection.

After Matt blows Danielles cover and makes her feel like the tramp she once was, she decides to high tail it with Kelly. Matt is completely whipped over her by this point and begs her not to go -but alas, she bails anyways.

Matts balls have gotten pretty big by now, and he takes off to rescue her from the clutches of her evil pimp. Eventually after Danielle returns home- Kelly comes back with a vengeance for Matt - causing him to lose the school funding he has been working on to bring a foreign exchange student to his school. He also manages to slip him some Ecstatsy - on the very night he has to give a speech in an attempt to gain the scholarship to college that he has worked so hard for.

Nerds and porn stars eventually come together to hatch a plan to raise the money once again - this time by making their own porno right at their very own school.

"The Girl Next Door" is the kind of movie I would have enjoyed a lot more as a teenager than as an adult. Now grown up- you realize how far from reality this kind of stuff is--but as a kid- this would have been a fantasy flick that I would have killed to see come true in my own life.

Overall stupid but enjoyable.

Recommended for all you nerdy/horny teens with big dreams and not much else.......

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.

this movie is the perfect blend of teenage immaturity and perversion we have all come to love thanks to movies like american pie and likes. it has your average high school student makes good grades, president of the student council, etc. who falls in love with the lady who is housesitting his neighbors house...he falls in love with her only to find she is a porn star, and things go downhill for him from there. this is a movie to be watched not as a teenie bopper flick but seriously, it has a perfect blend also of comedy and drama. fans of the american pie type of movies, and fans of porno both should love this one, it will go down in history.

THE GIRL NEXT DOOR looks for all the "Unrated Version" stamps that unfortunately hide the figure of Elisha Cuthbert on the DVD box like this is a moron audience directed chick flick. But inside the poorly advertised trappings is a nice little light film that is far better than the average movie aimed at the school age audience. Credit director Luke Greenfield and his writers David Wagner and Brent Goldberg for instilling some sense of dignity and tenderness into this story about hormone-pumping highschool kids.

Much of the success of this film must also be credited to Emile Hirsch who is surfacing as an actor to watch (if anyone has a chance to see him in THE MUDGE BOY you'll know what I mean). He plays Matthew, a bright but naive highschool senior who depends more on his brain than his sexual prowess to make it through school. His two fellow nerdy friends Eli (Chris Marquette) and Klitz (Paul Dano) may always be on the lookout for their first sexual experience, but the three boys do represent the saner side of teenage life.

The story involves a new neighbor for Matt, one Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert), an ex-porn star who moves next door to housesit. Slowly Danielle entices Matt into showing her around her new town, plays a few cute tricks on him until the playing field is level, and their adventure can begin.

Trouble enters when Danielle's 'producer' Kelly (Timothy Olyphant) appears to re-claim his 'property' and Matt discovers Danielle's background. The remainder of the film deals with how Danielle and Matt interact with Eli, Klitz and the entire highschool bunch and involve the town in a staged scandal that has its own rewards.

The dialogue is fairly clever and more interested in matters of the heart than in matters of the toilet, and in the end there is much to be said for the philosophical stance the story takes. The acting is good to excellent (especially fine are Hirsch, Cuthbert, Olyphant, Marquette and Dano) and the pacing is brisk and warmly entertaining. I'm not sure why the 'Unrated' label is placed because this is a rather tame movie despite its subject matter. If it is there as a marketing ploy, it didn't work in the theaters. Maybe it will have a happier life as a DVD! Grady Harp, March 05

I basically just bought this movie because Elisha Cuthbrest was in it and she is one of the most gorgeous, freshest faces in Hollywood (in my mind) for quite some time. While my friends still eat up dime-a-dozen high-school and college comedies (as well as simplistic, style over substance action movies) I have begun to resent these types of movies as an actor myself. I now dissect every film's plots and acting much more than I ever did and much more than the average filmgoer, and it appalls me how people will flock to movies that basically tread on familiar, yet hard to point out, territory. The best years are definitely behind Hollywood until a whole new generation of fresh-thinking, visionary actors, directors, writers, and producers emerges.
Okay, this movie does cover a lot of familiar territory. Although I admit I liked it much more than I thought I would. Actually I was really into it but the ending seemed to be too convenient, and everything worked out too perfectly with some questions unanswered. In retrospect, I can point out a few flaws before the ending as well. The acting performances are about as good as you're gonna get out of young, inexperienced actors, and the guy who played the porn producer Kelly, did a remarkable job I thought.
There were only laughs occasionally (some really big ones at times), but I remember at one extended point in particular (the scene with Matthew and Kelly breaking into the house) where it didn't feel like a comedy at all. So this can be a good or a bad thing. The relationship between Matthew and Danielle was really underdeveloped I believe. He was so nervous around her, and then he kisses her at a party and next thing you know they're all lovey-dovey. She goes away to Las Vegas trying to forget him, and comes back to him and next thing you know lovey-dovey. You don't see any conversation or nothing explaining their feelings and changes of heart. Plus, Matthew never really declares that he loves Danielle, not Danielle the porn star.
Overall, I liked this film enough to watch it a few times. It may have been done before, but I like the idea of an innocent, all-work-no-play type of kid going out on a limb for the beautiful, living-life-too-fast-no-more type of girl. It just squeezes itself out of that dime-a-dozen comedy category. I prefer this mightily to those overrated, fantasized tales of the American Pie movies, Eurotrip, etc., etc. which are easy attempts to cash in on the ignorance and shallowness of the mainstream young moviegoer. I bet if you loved those movies, you will really like this one.

I have seen this movie twice already, once at a rather unadvertised sneak preview and again at an advertised sneak preview. It is terrific! The best teen comdey to come along since American Pie. It isn't a gross-out comedy like a Farrelly Bros. movie or even the American Pie movies. It has a surprisingly believable storyline, just get past the central concept of an ex-pornstar living next door and you can imagine these two falling for each other. The movie has a lot of heart, and is funny in all the right places, with no cheap jokes. It doesn't play down to the audience and in fact has a very smart twist ending. The best movie to come this year so far, other than Eternal Sunshine, which is a vastly different type of movie.

Let me begin by saying I have seen alot of "teen sex comedies" and none of them compare to "The Girl Next Door". Everything from the music/score, the direction, and the casting is really perfect. I assume you have read other reviews on this site for it so I'll just say that this film has miles of heart, great comedy, and is really worth your money. And seeing as how I truly love movies I wouldn't want you to waste yours on a bad one. Chris Marquette (Freddy Vs. Jason, Just Friends) and Timothy Olyphant (A Man Apart, Dreamcatcher, Go) are absolutely hilarious in this film. If comedies are your thing, you shouldn't leave this one out.

I just love this movie. First I thought it's going to be like one of those mindless teenage movies like American pie or Roadtrip. Although I DO like those mindless American teenage movies, this movie was different. If you just look at its story, maybe it is one of those movies. But how the director presented it and how musics blend with the pictures differentiate this movie with the others. Cameron Crowe and Quentin Tarantino are known as masters of using great musics fittingly in their movies and I think Luke is up there with them. If you carefully watch the ending sequence of this movie, you'll know what I mean. Acting was great too. Elisha is perfect for the role as Danielle in this movie. If you haven't seen this movie yet, watch it, it's a great movie.