The Girl Next Door (2004)

We watched this fun coming-of-age love story on DVD.

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Elisha Cuthbert, who we liked as Kim Bauer on the television series 24, plays Danielle, a very hot chick who moves in next door to Matthew (played by Emile Hirsch, who looked familar, but we couldn't recognize from where--IMDB says he's been in a bunch of TV, so that's probably it), a go-getter senior about to graduate, recently accepted to George Washington University, who has plans to someday be POTUS.

She's just a bit older than he, so they click, and a slight romance ensues. Problems arise when Matthew's buddy Eli (played by Chris Marquette, the boyfriend Adam from TV's Joan of Arcadia) recognizes her from an adult video. Matthew reacts poorly, and their budding romance screeches to a halt. He comes to his senses a little too late; she believes that she's not going to be able to start fresh, and is returning to video. Matthew pursues her, pisses off her agent (I guess he is), and more trouble occurs.

It's a feel-good movie, so in the end it all works out, of course. There's plenty of young romance comedy and the main characters really gel well. The actors both play their parts, and grow their characters, quite admirably. It's a twist on your typical boy meets-looses-regains girl story, with a clever come-out-ahead ending.

Definately recommended for rental.