The Boy Next Door (2015)
Certified: 15
Duration: 90 minutes
Directed by: Rob Cohen
Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Ryan Guzman, John Corbett, Ian Nelson, Kristin Chenoweth, Lexi Atkins, Hill Harper, Travis Schuldt
KRS Releasing Ltd
Jennifer Lopez is Claire Peterson, who teaches literature at high school, has a 17-year-old son Kevin (Ian Nelson) and is on the verge of getting a divorce from Garrett (John Corbett). At school, vice-principal Vicky (Kristin Chenowith), who is also Claire’s best friend, gives her the advice that it is better to terminate her marriage as soon as possible. Her son is not taking it very well.
Everything changes when Noah (Ryan Guzman) moves into the house next door. He is a young man, 19 years old and a recent orphan. He is taking care of his uncle Mr Sandborn (Jack Wallace), who is very sick. He soon befriends Kevin and has a huge influence on him, especially when he helps him get close to Allie (Lexi Atkins), a girl in his class. Noah also helps him out with some bullies at school, such as Jason Zimmer (Adam Hicks).
Claire sees Noah as being a good influence and she is also attracted to him. One night when the two are alone in the house, Noah seduces her and she ends up sleeping with him. The next morning, Claire realises that this was a very bad decision on her part and wants this to be a one-time thing.
The cast and director seem to have directed the film with a sense of self-awareness
Noah takes this badly and when she starts to avoid him and makes it clear there is no future between them, his fix-ation becomes dangerous.
Claire is worried about this, as she worries about getting in trouble if the night she had with Noah becomes public knowledge, Noah starts channelling his anger at her refusal into violence.
Made on a pittance by Hollywood standards, just $4 million, The Boy Next Door is a B movie with an A star cast in it. This has resulted in the film becoming quite a box-office success, grossing more than ten times its budget.
This is a sexy erotic thriller of the likes of the B movies of old. The plot and structure of The Boy Next Door is familiar territory. However, it’s a film that, despite everything, is entertaining even as it goes through all the expected plot motions.
What is interesting is how the cast and director seem to have directed the film with a sense of self-awareness that shows a film that is entertaining in the way it puts the word popcorn in front of entertainment.
The film as directed from Barbara Curry’s screenplay moves along the same lines as such genre films as Unlawful Entry (1992) and The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (1992), as it unabashedly takes the classic The Fatal Attraction (1987) and turns it on its head.
Inadvertently enough, the focus is on Jennifer Lopez, who is the film’s star attraction, and the seduction scene is one of the film’s highlights.
When the tables are turned and Ryan Guzman goes all psychotic, his overreactions are presented in an enjoyable manner, through one climactic scene after another, as the film shows its true colours. Guzman is not expecting to be taken seriously, he is simply hamming it up for the ladies in the theatre as he switches from one mode to another in what is a sexual fantasy cover of a trashy novel come alive. He seems to be having fun especially spouting such lines as “Oh man! I love your mum’s cookies!”