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Not Just Any Girl Next Door
Elisha Cuthbert and Emile Hirsch ascend to teen-movie immortality
by Clint Casey
The teen-flick genre has an obvious blueprint: despair followed by uncertainty (resulting in more agony) and, ultimately, redemption. Combined with his adolescent clichés, director John Hughes created an entertaining Hollywood model in the mid-1980s. However, the secret to subsequent success and teen-movie immortality lies in the originality and application of the formula. The Girl Next Door takes substantial cues from Hughes, but it also stylishly considers plot subtleties and character quirks from Risky Business and The Graduate.
The film finds conservative, semi-innocent Matthew Kidman (The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys’ Emile Hirsch) on the brink of high school graduation with an invitation to attend Georgetown University, but unable to afford college without the help of a scholarship. Enter Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert of TV’s 24), the extraordinarily beautiful and mysterious girl next door. Through his neighboring window, Matthew catches a glimpse of her in the midst of changing clothes; she sees him and forces him to return the favor.
The pair ease into dating, and Danielle provides Matthew with self-confidence and the courage to take the adolescent risks that have eluded him thus far: skipping class, skinny dipping, showing up to parties uninvited. As the relationship blooms, Matthew’s friend Eli (Chris Marquette), a film student with an adult movie fixation, screens a campy porn flick for him with Danielle featured in a sex scene.
After a bit of coaxing from Eli, Matthew involuntarily makes her feel self-conscious about the past she is eagerly trying to forget. Danielle believes she’ll never be capable of escaping her porn starlet past and the preconceptions associated with it, and she eventually succumbs to returning to the adult film industry with her former producer Kelly (Go’s Timothy Olyphant).
Matthew realizes the ignorant, superficial mistake he’s made and spends the remainder of the film, with friends Eli and Klitz (Paul Dano), trying to convince Danielle that she’s a better person than those making seedy skin flicks for a living.
The Girl Next Door treats the porn industry—its fans, stars and producers—with the humor and sarcasm it deserves, using it as the punchline to a never-ending joke. And sex in the film—far from gratuitous—is treated with an unexpected amount of reverence outside the realm of the adult film industry.
Hirsch’s portrayal of Matthew is familiar territory: the likeable Everykid trapped in high school social purgatory between popularity and outcast; he’s consciously different, but not enough to be noticed nor ostracized by classmates. To receive the aforementioned scholarship, Matthew must give a speech on moral fiber; his version is a theme central to the movie. Because of his affection for the ex-porn star, he’s conflicted by the traditional definition of morality and forced to forge an unconventional, and altogether more moving, explanation about finding the one thing in your life worth sacrificing everything for, including breaking laws and compromising principles.
Cuthbert’s Danielle embodies the girl-next-door cliché flawlessly: sensible, painfully attractive, seemingly innocent, yet incredibly sexy. The torment of trading her familiar adult film industry past for a normal life is apparent in facial expressions conveying her vulnerability. When Matthew discovers her secret and objectifies her, her quivering voice and doe eyes communicate her heartbreak more succinctly than the dialogue that follows. Much like Matthew needs her to stir his self-confidence, she needs his encouragement and approval to leave her previous life behind.
Olyphant’s portrayal of antagonist porn producer Kelly is a thoroughly entertaining addition and, perhaps, the movie’s most memorable element. Cunning, witty and slick, Olyphant fills a void and rounds out the cast dynamic left wide open for his edgy Kelly. When introduced, he appears to be a likeable ally in persuading Danielle to lead a porn-free life, but shifts within a split second to a formidable, sleazy adversary.
While a romantic relationship between Matthew and Danielle is never wholly believable, the chemistry between the Hirsch and Cuthbert is enough to carry the film beyond just another teen movie. At its enormous heart, The Girl Next Door is an endearing, even if definitely unconventional, love story. By combining the idea that love-conquers-all with the damsel-in-distress scenario and injecting elements of the teen-flick formula, the film succeeds as a warm ‘n’ fuzzy reminder of the potential that love holds and a bizarre, sentimental promise of hope to those without.
April 15, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 16
© 2004 Metro Pulse
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