|
|
|
Search Movie Review
Archives
|
|
|
| |
| Dvdivas
was founded by John Gabbard in 2000. It's purpose has been and
remains to be to provide you, the entertainment community with
the latest dvds and movie reviews. It will continue to be your
link to the most popular dvd movies. |
|
|
““The
Girl Next Door” Unrated Version
|
 |
Reviewed
by: |
Wayne A. Klein |
| Genre: |
Comedy |
| Video: |
1.85:1 Anamorphic
Widescreen |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
Surround 5.1 |
| Languages |
English,
French, Spanish |
| Subtitles |
English,
Spanish |
| Length |
109 minutes
|
| Rating |
Unrated |
| Release Date |
8/23/04 |
| Studio |
20th Century
Fox Home Entertainment |
| Commentary:
|
Scene specific
commentary by Assorted |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
|
"The Eli Experience",
"A Look Next Door" |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
|
Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
None |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
16 deleted/extended
scenes including the original ending |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
Photo gallery,
gag reel |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Emile Hirsch,
Elisha Cuthbert, Timothy Olyphant, James Remar, Chris Marquette,
Paul Dano |
| Written
By: |
Stuart Blumberg,
David T. Wagner & Brent Goldberg |
| Produced
By: |
Charles Gordon,
Harry Gittes, Marc Stenberg |
| Directed
By: |
Luke Greenfield
|
| Music:
|
Paul Haslinger
|
| The
Review: |
Coming off like a shot gun marriage
between "Risky Business" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", "The
Girl Next Door" embodies every teen fantasy in a clever but
predictable "what if" story. What if a beautiful girl moved
in next door, she happened to be a teen porn star that wants
out of the business and she falls in love with you? Matthew
Kidman (Emile Hirsch) a bright kid, attractive kid who just
can't seem to lose his virginity is the lucky neighbor of
Danielle ("24" 's Elisha Cuthbert) who is house sitting for
her unsuspecting aunt. She's on the run from her past and
her pimping (and dangerous) boyfriend Kelly (Timothy Olyphant)
who wants her to return to the business so he can make money.
Matthew gets sucked into the middle of all this and, in the
process, gets set up by Kelly. Now Matthews must quickly come
up with $25,000 or face the possibility of going to jail and
watching his promising life go up in smoke. ---
Although "The Girl Next Door" falls
into the predictable category, it has some very funny moments
and will appeal primarily to the teen crowd its directed at.
This unrated version has quite a bit more bad language and
nudity than in the original "R" rated version that played
in theaters. Saved by the likeable duo of Hirsch & Cuthbert
and a edgy performance by Olyphant, "The Girl Next Door" provides
more enough laughs to make it an entertaining diversion for
an evening. It's not something you'll go back to again and
again but it's not bad for a single viewing. Since this is
the unrated version viewers may be expecting nude scenes of
star Cuthbert. There aren't any and the only difference between
this and the R rated version of the film is that the porn
movie that Matthew's friend Eli is watching in the film is
a bit more explicit. Additionally, the scenes in the strip
club removes the digital tops the performers wore in the related
version of the film. ---
|
| Image
and Sound: |
Bouncing
breasts and strip clubs have never quite looked this good before
(well, with the exception of "Showgirls"). The vivid, sharp
images and nice color reproduction highlight this DVD. The sequences
set at night look particularly sharp with few digital blemishes
to mar this fine transfer. Sound comes across as full but is
a bit bright and brittle in a couple of sequences. Overall a
very good transfer. --- |
| The
Extras: |
We get
to view the gag reel. Although its touted as unrated, there's
no big deal here. "The Eli Experience" follows Matthew's fictional
friend after he becomes a famous film director at a porn convention.
Eli pretends to be audition folks for his next major motion
picture. It's shot as if its a documentary so the off the
cuff feel contributes to its charm. It's got some funny moments
particularly the odd sequence where a the big boyfriend of
a porn star goes around asking men if they would make love
to him. The reactions appear genuinely befuddled as if these
were unsuspecting folks that happened to be passing by a la
"Candid Camera". Although this bit goes on a bit too long,
it's funny for the first couple of minutes. ***
The "Making
of" featurette "A Look Next Door" is pretty standard stuff
providing the actors, producers and directors their moment
in the sun to justify and defend how important this comedy
is. The extended/censored/deleted scenes really are no big
deal. There's nothing you wouldn't have expected. Most of
the scenes were cut because they bogged down the action or
threw the comedic timing of the scenes off. The alternate
ending likewise isn't a big deal providing a glimpse of Matthew
and Danielle's predictable future. The deleted scenes and
the alternate ending come with optional commentary by director
Luke Greenfield. ---
|
| Commentary:
|
Director
Luke Greenfield provides a full length commentary track for
the film. Greenfield provides some brief funny stories about
what occurred during the shooting but most of his comments are
related to technical issues and problems they had shooting the
film. His stars, on the other hand, provide nine scene specific
commentary tracks (sometimes for the same scenes although they
weren't done together) on the flip side of this dual layered
disc. Cuthbert's commentary track is the more interesting of
the two providing a bit of insight into her character and what
drew her to the role in the first place. --- |
| Final
Words: |
"The Girl
Next Door" the unrated edition looks good, has more nudity for
the guys, some funny extras bits and comes with pretty nice
extras. Although it isn't a movie that I would recommend to
everyone, 20 something guys and teens it's not a bad evening
of entertainment. The humor and fantasy elements of the film
will certainly appeal to this crowd. Will it cause the downfall
of civilization? No. Will it be remembered as one of the ten
best movies of all time? No. That's not its point. Just sit
back and enjoy the ride. |
|
|