Boy meets girl who's already met all sorts of boys and girls in this teen-slanted comedy. Matthew Kidman (Emile Hirsch) is a straight-laced and highly ambitious high school student who plans to study at Georgetown University and dreams of a career in politics. While most of his classmates are in the throes of an epidemic of senioritis, Matthew is obsessed with schoolwork and has a hard time relaxing and having fun. But he finds himself a bit less focused on his future career when Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert), a beautiful 19-year-old blonde, moves in next door. Danielle is playful, spontaneous, and doesn't always remember to draw her shades, and before long Matthew is head over heels in love. Danielle soon finds herself taken with Matthew as well, but their relationship takes an unusual turn when he discovers that, before she moved to town, Danielle had a successful career as a porn actress. Matthew is able to convince Danielle that she's cut out for better things in life than appearing in porn videos, but his advice doesn't especially please Kelly (Timothy Olyphant) or Hugo (James Remar), two porn moguls who figure Matthew owes them big-time after convincing their leading lady to drop out of the adult industry. The Girl Next Door -- which, appropriately enough, shares its title with a 1999 documentary about adult film superstar Stacy Valentine -- also features Timothy Bottoms, Paul Dano, and Chris Marquette.



However, as the film progresses, the movie didn't delve as deeply into Cuthbert's character as it should have. No insight into her background, how did she get to where she is right now, etc. She also takes a back seat to the growing tension between the Matthew and the sleazebag Kelly. I must say, Olyphant is great in this film. He goes from being hilarious to charming to scary in the span of about five minutes and steals almost every scene he's in. The other supporting characters are great. Chris Marquette (Eli) and Paul Dano (Klitz) are funny as Hirsch's dorky friends, and hopefully Marquette will land more roles like this. They too seem to become more adventurous once Danielle enters the picture, what an influence one person can have.