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““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.

 

 
 
 
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