‘I just wanna let you know, I know who you really are, and you’re better than this…’
2004 was 20 years ago. That’s tough to take, isn’t it? It was the year of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Dead Man’s Shoes and erm… Alien vs Predator. Arcade Fire, The Futreheads and Franz Ferdinand all released their debut albums. Wayne Rooney announced himself on the international stage at Euro 2004. I say all this to justify why I had never even heard of The Girl Next Door let alone seen it when it dropped in April 2004. The film was mentioned in passing on the Halloweenies podcast and so here we are…
In a plot more than a little reminiscent of Risky Business, a porn star (Elisha Cuthbert) moves next door to an awkward teenage boy (Emile Hirsch) and the two inexplicably start a relationship. What makes The Girl Next Door stand out from the teen comedy pack is its R rating and its stellar supporting cast (Timothy Olyphant! Paul Dano!).
While the screenplay has numerous moments that would now be deemed problematic (sigh), this does mean that the film can tell actual jokes rather than the weak facsimile of comedy that we find in the watered-down films of this day and age (old man shouts at clouds etc). Cuthbert smoulders and works hard to try and inject this preposterous scenario with some credibility but it is Olyphant who steals the show. His unscrupulous porn producer feels like he’s been jettisoned in from a Coen brothers’ movie. Magnificent. Great hair too.
The Girl Next Door won’t win any prizes for being progressive but it is funny, entertaining and weirdly sweet in places. Tonally inconsistent yes, but enjoyable nevertheless.
