Nearly five years ago, American Pie set a new standard of quality in teen sex comedies. With pastry exploits and inadvertent semen consumption, this new classic film served as a marker for our generation. On March 12 the bar will be set again with The Girl Next Door.
Starring Elisha Cuthbert, Luke Wilson's high school-aged fling from Old School, and Emile Hirsch (Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, Emperor's Club), The Girl Next Door is your typical guy-meets-girl, guy-loses-girl, guy-crashes-porn-convention-to-win-girl-back story, with a couple new surprises. Cuthbert is the sultry new neighbor who opens up Hirsch's bookworm eyes to fun and adventure just in time for graduation. The two get along famously until her illicit past catches up with her. As you might expect, hilarity ensues. Winning back his girl is only the beginning of Hirsch's problems.
The real story behind this gem, like any good comedy, is its supporting cast. Just as American Pie had Stiffler and the Sherminator, Girl has a whole host of friends and enemies that bring unique and stimulating personalities to the screen. Hirsch's nerdy pals remind us of all the things that made high school torturous at times. And while Tara Reid and Jason Biggs graduated high school during the Carter administration, Girl finds some real young talent, making it all the more buyable. Also of particular note is a tremendous turn by Timothy Olyphant (Gone in Sixty Seconds, Go), who plays the charismatic sleazebag Kelly. At once Hirsch's mentor and antagonist, this incorrigible porn producer embodies the lifestyle that every man desires, even if he won't admit it.
Where The Girl Next Door really distinguishes itself from what is usually considered a second-rate category is in eschewing sight gags and fart jokes for more clever situational laughs. The experience is much more reminiscent of Meet the Parents or 10 Things I Hate About You than of the American Pie films or Van Wilder. For all its bowing to generic convention The Girl Next Door moves beyond expectations. The overall experience is freewheeling, but restrained when it needs to be. Girl paces itself like few others of its ilk, allowing the audience some breathing room, but not without a subtle wink of acknowledgment. While it sometimes tiptoes the line of satisfying schmaltz, The Girl Next Door has the wit and the whimsy to be the new king of teen comedies. And yeah, there's plenty of T & A too.
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