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Rating: Country: USA Release Date: April 9, 2004

Ahhh, the girl next door. She was sweet, innocent, and pleasantly attractive. You practically grew up with her. The girl that was always right under your nose but you never made a move on. If this was your experience with the girl next door, then hold on to your seats because Luke Greenfield's "The Girl Next Door" is a whole different ballgame.

When high school senior Matthew (Emile Hirsch – "The Emperor's Club", "The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys") falls in love with former porn star Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert – "24". "Old School"), a series of seemingly impossible yet intertwining events begin. Though this adventure vaguely follows a similar plotline from a popular 80s movie, the similarities aren't enough to say that "The Girl Next Door" is a remake of "Risky Business", it's just pretty darn close.

From the opening sequence this film felt like it was set in high school. You see the jocks, the nerds, and the popular kids. You see parties, drinking, and the rampant sexual activity. You hear the cut ups during class and assemblies and the principal losing control of his school. You see the seniors skipping school and everyone getting ready for prom and did I mention the rampant sexual activity?

Hirsch did a nice job of playing the socially inept senior class president. His demeanor was calm and collective, which is what I expected from the character. But I sometimes found it hard to imagine him as the geek they wanted him to portray. His body language was on target; I think it was his charisma that got in the way.

I think Cuthbert was cast purely as eye-candy. I know... big revelation, but she didn't bring much to the movie besides her sexuality. Her character was too one-dimensional and it was hard to believe that she was able to influence Matt's life as much as she did in two weeks. Cuthbert was used more as a prop than a person, which is ironic since her character was running away from that exact lifestyle.

Though Hirsch and Cuthbert were the main characters, the main stars of the movie were found in the supporting roles.

Matt's friend Eli (Chris Marquette – "Joan of Arcadia", "Freddy vs. Jason"), the typical high school sex-hound, pulled off an incredible part giving glimpses of a young John Cusak. Matt's other friend, Klitz (Paul Dano – "The Emperor's Club"), is the typical head in the books nerd, very shy and extremely low self-confidence. Danielle's movie producer, Kelly (Timothy Olyphant – "Dreamcatcher", "Rock Star"), is the antagonist of the show and steals every scene that he's in.

The movie was cute, quaint, and humorous; Greenfield did a nice job there. Although it felt like it ended about three times too many and had a few plot holes, it was wrapped up nicely in the end, almost too nicely. This is Hollywood though, where porn stars can become normal people again, where you can lose $25,000 and end up making millions, where you can have a life-changing experience AND get the girl, all in two weeks. Just remember that going into the movie, because this is definitely not based on a true story.

Overall rating: C