 THE GIRL NEXT DOOR 2004
MPAA Rating:
 for strong sexual content, language and some drug/alcohol useReviewed by: Joe Sinko Extremely Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
 Primary Audience:
Adults
Genre:
Comedy, Romance
Length:
1 hr. 49 min.
Year of Release:
2004
USA Release:
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    Relevant Issues
Why are humans supposed to wear clothes? Answer What are the consequences of sexual immorality? Answer How can I deal with temptations? Answer Should I save sex for marriage? Answer How can I tell if I’m getting addicted to pornography or sex? Answer Tips on how to deal with sexual addictions Is there a way to overcome excessive lust for sex? Answer Why does Hollywood continue to promote immoral programming? Are YOU part of the problem? Read article   “Matt never saw her coming… but all his friends had!” Plot Outline: A teenager’s dreams come true when a former porn star moves in next door and they fall in love. This movie is a takeoff on the Tom Cruise movie “Risky Business.” The story line is about a young women (Danielle) who is attempting to get out of the pornographic movie business and “regain her innocence.” Danielle temporarily moves next door to Matthew (Emile Hirsch) to house-sit for her aunt. Of course, she is very beautiful and captures Matthew’s attention right away. Matthew is a smart, ambitious young man who is trying to go to Georgetown University after graduating High School. His goal is to one day become the President. He is also helping to raise $25,000 to bring a “brilliant young man” called “Samnang” from a poor country to live and go to school in the United States. However, the idea is that Matthew’s life is a little too “flat,” and needs to be spiced up. The story surrounds him and the innocent relationship he initially develops with Danielle. One of Matthew’s friends, however, is very perverted and discovers that Danielle is actually a porn star. This “friend” encourages Matthew to capitalize on the situation and take her to a hotel, because he is sure that she will be easy to get sex from, and that’s what he himself would do. This friend of Matthew’s is very obnoxious and perverse — constantly using the f-word. Never once were his parents shown during the movie, and he spends all of his spare time watching and thinking about pornography. It is very disturbing. As the story develops, Danielle gets very upset in the hotel room and decides that there is no point in trying to change — she is going back to the porn business. This leads to a very nasty encounter with her “producer” who steals all of the money that Matthew has been saving to bring Samnang to the U.S. Predictably, and just like the plot in “Risky Business,” Matthew has to find a way to recover the $25,000. And, of course, the means is through making a porn movie featuring his high school friends and porn stars. “The Girl Next Door” is designed to appeal to the lasciviousness that is running rampant in our culture. It is predictable, awkward, full of profanity and nudity. It pokes fun at the use of ecstasy and portrays the majority of high school kids as morally bankrupt. It falls way short of the movie trailers, except the ones used to imply that it is “every boy’s fantasy to live next to a young beautiful porn star who will fulfill their sexual desires.” This is a porn movie, make no mistake. It should have been rated “NC-17.” There are many elements that I found filthy and offensive. The movie pokes fun at “normal” kids who are doing their best to get a good education and become contributing citizens in society. It implies that casual sex and pornography are generally harmless things that really hurt no one, and that using drugs will make you funny and enlightened. The Bible warns Christians to set their minds on things above, not on the things of this earth (Col 3:2), and that “marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4). Over and again, the New Testament tells us to flee those things that would defile our minds and spirits. This movie fits very well into that category. Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Extreme / Sex/Nudity: Extreme  Neutral - A fairly respectable message double-coated in rampant sexuality
describes “The Girl Next Door.” To start off, this film is standard teen
romp fare. The movie itself promotes a good message, it’s never too late
to turn from your past and change for the better. Danielle (Cuthbert)
wants to leave her life as a porn star and wants to be viewed as a normal
person, not a sex object. She finds an innocence in Matthew (Hirsch) and
it makes her feel better not to be degraded. A side message is to enjoy
life. Matthew is so caught up in achieving academically he has failed to
find the balance of having a normal social life. It’s good to see him
break out of his shell when he meets and gets to know Danielle. While I
appreciated those messages of the movie, families will not want to sort
through the sexual content to reach the end. The central character being
an ex-porn star opens doors for heavy sexual content. Sex for play is a
major downside to the film. Love does not seem to be a factor for the most
part and when it is, it is outside of wedlock. 'R' rated profanity is also
ever present. In the end, the events of the movie do not play out as they
would in real life. People who find themselves in situations similar to
Matthew’s don’t escape the problems as easily as he does, and are
definitely not glorified for them in the end. “The Girl Next Door” will
open up some discussion, but is NOT appropriate viewing for families with
children of any age. Negative - …just another Hollywood propaganda tool to promote sex. They ruined another movie that could have been good. The profanity could have been removed and the nudity diminished and still achieved the same plot. I agree that it does portray the seemly side of pornography. I don’t encourage anyone to see this movie, but I pray that any women who do decide to do so will see that all PORN does is pray on women, uses them, and then discards them as if all they are is a piece of meat with which to satisy the greedy, lustful, evil desires of men. Negative - I had liked Risky Business and I was told that the story was
similar so I went to see “The Girl Next Door.” I must say, to the films
credit, the story is creative and takes some unexpected twists and turns.
However, the producers could have done the same plot without the nudity
and graphic details. One scene in the film sums up contemporary popular
culture well when the “villain” in this “melodrama” says, “sometimes you
have to do bad to do good.” Hedonistic moral relativism just bellows out
of this film like smoke from the twin towers on 9/11. If you combine Burt
Reynolds “Boggie Nights” (which was not as good as this one) and “Risky
Business” you have “The Girl Next Door.” If you do decided to see this
film, which I didn’t think was a total waste of time, take this warning
and go by yourself. I’m almost ashamed to admit that I went and I
certainly wouldn’t have wanted my wife or children along, which begs the
question… I know!!! Neutral - I got back from seeing this movie with a friend, and I didn’t think it was going to be all that good. It turned out better than I thought it would. A former porn star quit her job and is trying to live a normal life and regain her lost innocence. The movie really shows what porn can do to people; it had a horrible effect on this girl’s life. So, this movie has a good little lesson to it; I just wish it didn’t have all the nudity, strip clubs, sex, and all the other “3” that were attached to it. Neutral - I know most would not agree with me — and, yes, I saw all the breasts and nudity, the swearing and seductive nature of this film — but if we can look past that for a moment… I would not ever want to see porn again after this. I am a Christian who deals with the same problem, this silent killer called pornography that many Christian men deal with. But this movie draws you in and shows you a real lovely sweet girl struggling to change her ways, and start a new life. You actually see the pain she is in from how guys view her. You emotionally hate porn after this movie because you connect with her and want to see her get out of the industry. It… doesn’t glamorize this lifestyle in anyway, and it shows one of the side characters who is obsessed with porn and how it damages his view of women and just makes his mind so totally warped it is almost laughable, yet very sad. It does not condone pornography, in my opinion, but rather shows the damage that it has in many ways with several characters. I do not feel that I could recommend this film, but I needed to weigh in my opinion.
Positive - I saw this movie because of Emile Hirsch, who has proved his talent in movies like THE DANGEROUS LIVES OF ALTARBOYS and THE EMPEROR’S CLUB, which was better than I expected it to be. And as for this movie, which some people seem to believe is Hollywood’s way of promoting pornography, I loved it. Mostly I loved the romance and the nobility of it all. Positive - This isn’t a movie for kids, but it’s definitely one that older teens and young adults will like. It’s got some very funny moments and the characters are all likeable, even the “bad” guys” There’s also an awesome ending that you completely don’t expect, all I’ll say is, you’re expecting one thing and another (pleasantly surprising) thing happens. There’s a bit of drug use, but like in a lot movies, it’s not glorified, rather made to make the character seem ridiculous. There is some nudity (nothing frontal, just some bums and breasts) but if you’re the type of person who gets offended by that this probably isn’t the movie for you. Positive - This movie moved me to tears. I broke down seeing Matthew pursue her to the convention in LA, the greatest concentration of depravity, because he loved her and wanted to pull her out of that lifestyle. For the “Christian” version, go read Hosea. While I didn’t like the ending, or scenes which didn’t contribute to the overall value (with nudity) the movie itself is a wonderful picture of genuine love and commitment. The “porn addict” friend is a good portrayal of the effects of porn — inability to form genuine relationships or see women as more than objects. Comments from young people
Negative - This movie isn’t as “offensive” as it’s just plain filthy and
boring. Except for a gay slur that you’ll probably miss, it’s not that
offensive, considering almost every teen who sees the movie uses the word.
It’s a comedy, with no funny or interesting characters and just goes
nowhere. Basically, it sucks the youth into it with a promise the female
lead gets naked. This never happened and every 13 year old boy and
20-something year old man was disappointed. I thought the movie was pretty
bad, but somehow better than I thought it would be, though I was dragged
to it by 2 friends and a girlfriend. Anyhoo, I don’t understand how a
handful of sex jokes are “offensive” (at least it’s not as “offensive” as
using the N-word), but some people are just really uptight. I didn’t
laugh, I didn’t smile and the movie is just getting you to see it by using
porn as its theme. Film: D+ Negative - This is what you call a porn film . This is the sickest most perverted movie I’ve ever seen. Stay away from THE GIRL NEXT DOOR. Neutral - …This film made some children to appear morally bankrupt, but not all. The main character worked hard in school, and took his studies seriously. He was portrayed as having morals, but not many. The film showed some highschool kids wanting to become famous porn stars. Also seen in this movie were some “popular” jocks, who would resort to violence, and would drink. This is a reality of highschool… Positive - I think it was a very funny film, and I saw the unrated version, although it did have a modest amount of nudity, there was much more to it than that. Like others have said, it is about a boy trying to save a girl
from her career as a 'pornstar.' I think it’s just hilarious, and if you can’t laugh at sex and sexuality then what can you laugh at? Movie Critics
“…Who in the world read this script and thought it was acceptable?…” “…romantic theme is lost in the filth of sexual content and dialog, homosexuality, foul language and profanity, and glamorization of the porn industry…” “…graphic sexual content and moral depravity…” “…the porn component makes “The Girl Next Door” feel contrived and exploitative…” “…raunchy…” “…alternates between slobbery adolescent male fantasy and prim Hollywood moralizing, with valuable lessons trotted out in skimpy lingerie…” |
