Light-hearted comedy confused, but fun

The Girl Next Door stars Emile Hirsch, as Matt, a goody-goody high school senior with good grades and the world seemingly at his feet.

But he’s not happy. He wants to be one of the cool kids, and dreams of being in with the jock crowd and enjoying the company of all the sexy babes that hang around with them.

Instead he’s stuck with geeky Klitz (Paul Dano) and Eli (Chris Marquette) who is addicted to porn films.

Things take a turn for the better when sexy Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert) moves in to the house next door and Matt falls madly in love with her.

Just to prove the old saying that it takes a mother 18 years to make a man of her son and 18 minutes for another woman to make a fool of him, within an hour of meeting Danielle he is running naked down the street after her.

She must have been impressed with what she saw because just why she should have the slightest interest in him isn’t made very clear.

Nevertheless she does and sets about transforming him into the cool dude he dreams of being.

A fairly feeble plot follows where Matt uncovers Danielle’s porn-star past, loses the love of his life and then tries to win her back by heading to Las Vegas with his pals to rescue the damsel in distress from the evil clutches of a porn producer.

The on-screen chemistry between Hirsch and Cuthbert works well, though she doesn’t look very much like a porn star.

The whole treatment of the porn industry is pretty strange. On the one hand everyone thinks being a porn star is no big deal, but when she goes to Las Vegas to make another film they decide she needs rescuing from a fate worst than death.

The Girl Next Door is a light bit of fun, not to be taken too seriously.

Comedy, 18. 2/5