The Girl Next Door (2004 film)

  1. Home
  2. Wiki

For similar titles, see Girl Next Door.
The Girl Next Door
A blonde woman in a red top and low cut pants. In the distance a young man is looking out the at her window.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLuke Greenfield
Screenplay by
Story byDavid T. Wagner
Brent Goldberg
Produced byHarry Gittes
Charles Gordon
Marc Sternberg
Starring
CinematographyJamie Anderson
Edited byMark Livolsi
Music byPaul Haslinger
Production
companies
Regency Enterprises
New Regency
Daybreak
Epsilon Motion Pictures
Distributed by20th Century Fox
(Worldwide)
Ascot Elite Entertainment Group
(Switzerland)
Release date
  • April 9, 2004 (2004-04-09)
Running time
108 minutes
CountriesUnited States
Switzerland[2]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20–25 million[3][4][5]
Box office$30.4 million[6]

The Girl Next Door is a 2004 American romantic comedy film directed by Luke Greenfield and written by David Wagner, Brent Goldberg, and Stuart Blumberg. It stars Emile Hirsch, Elisha Cuthbert, Timothy Olyphant, James Remar, Chris Marquette, and Paul Dano. Olivia Wilde makes her screen debut as Kellie.[7] The story follows Matthew Kidman, a high school senior who falls for his new neighbor, Danielle, and discovers she is a former adult film actress.

Filmed primarily in Los Angeles County, California and Las Vegas,[8] the film features cinematography by Eric Alan Edwards and a score by Paul Haslinger. It was released on April 9, 2004, to mixed reviews—praised for its performances but criticized for tonal inconsistencies. Though it underperformed at the box office, The Girl Next Door later gained a cult following through home media and television, with retrospective appreciation for its genre subversion and portrayal of the adult entertainment industry.[1][9][10][11]

Plot

[edit]

Matthew Kidman, an ambitious high school senior in suburban Connecticut, has been accepted to Georgetown University but lacks the funds to attend. As class president, he raises $25,000 to help a Cambodian student, Samnang, study in the United States, but feels his own high school experience has been uneventful. His closest friends, Eli and Klitz, are more focused on mischief and adult films than academics or self-reflection.

Matthew’s routine changes when Danielle, an attractive young woman, moves in next door. After a series of playful and flirtatious interactions, the two begin a tentative romance. Their relationship is disrupted when Matthew learns from Eli that Danielle is a former adult film actress. Following misguided advice from his friends, Matthew takes Danielle to a motel and treats her inappropriately, leading her to end the relationship and consider returning to the adult industry.

Determined to make amends, Matthew tracks Danielle to an adult film convention in Las Vegas, where he confronts her former producer and ex-boyfriend, Kelly. Despite Kelly’s threats, Matthew convinces Danielle to leave the industry. Days later, Kelly retaliates by abducting Matthew and coercing him into stealing from a rival producer, Hugo Posh. After narrowly escaping police capture, Matthew arrives at a scholarship dinner under the influence of ecstasy and gives an impromptu speech but fails to secure the award.

Kelly escalates the conflict by posing as a school advisor and stealing the $25,000 fund. To recover the money and clear Matthew's name, Danielle proposes producing an educational adult film featuring her former colleagues and Matthew's classmates. Eli directs the film, and Klitz unexpectedly steps into a key role. The project is a success, and Matthew and Danielle become intimate.

The next day, Kelly arrives at Matthew’s home with a copy of the film, threatening to expose him. However, upon viewing it, Matthew’s parents and principal are surprised to find that it is a modern sex education video. Realizing the film’s value, they support its distribution. Kelly, defeated but impressed, begrudgingly concedes.

Matthew partners with Hugo Posh to distribute the film, earning enough to fund Samnang’s education. Eli begins a promising film career, Klitz gains new confidence, and Matthew departs for Georgetown with Danielle by his side.

Cast

[edit]

Production

[edit]

In May 2001, it was reported that Luke Greenfield had set up teen comedy film The Girl Next Door, which Greenfield co-scripted with Chris McKenna, at 20th Century Fox-based production company Regency Enterprises.[12] Greenfield had held on to the script for over a year hoping to make a film in the vein of Risky Business.[12] In October 2002, it was reported that Emile Hirsch and Elisha Cuthbert had signed on to star in the film.[13]

Locations include: Long Beach, CA,[8] Glendale, CA,[14][8] Las Vegas, NV,[8] College of the Canyons,[15] Paramount Ranch,[15] South Pasadena, California,[16][15] Glendale, California,[15][16] Doheny Library,[17] Huntington Library,[17]

Release and reception

[edit]

Box office

[edit]

The Girl Next Door grossed $14.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $15.8 million in international markets, for a worldwide total of approximately $30.4 million.[6]

Home video and rights

[edit]

OnAugust 24, 2004, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released an unrated version of the film on DVD.[18] 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment also released this unrated version on Blu-Ray on September 1, 2009.[19]

In 2019, Rupert Murdoch sold most of 21st Century Fox's film and television assets to Disney. However, much of The Girl Next Door's underlying rights were with production company Regency Enterprises rather than Fox, and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation are not mentioned as one of the copyright holders in the credits.[20] At the time of the sale, Fox had a 20% stake in Regency Enterprises, and this 20% stake was transferred to Disney when they purchased the Fox entertainment assets.[21]

Critical response

[edit]

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 56% based on 159 reviews, with an average score of 5.6/10. The website's consensus reads, "The movie borrows heavily from Risky Business (1983), though Emile Hirsch and Elisha Cuthbert are appealing leads."[22] Metacritic reports a weighted average score of 47 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[23] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[24]

Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film as a "sharp, vivacious comedy."[25] Desson Thomson of The Washington Post described it as "an entertaining affair whose wild-card creativity never ceases to surprise."[26] Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Owen Gleiberman gave the film a "B−", noting that while it was derivative, "this genial cardboard knockoff is contrived from the start but gets better as it goes along."[27]

In a more mixed review, Joe Leydon of Variety criticized the film's "shamelessly derivative" script, drawing comparisons to Risky Business, American Pie (1999), and 1980s teen romances. He described the lead performances as "attractive but bland," though he praised Timothy Olyphant's "scene-stealing turn."[28][29] A. O. Scott of The New York Times observed that the film presents a "nonjudgmental, even celebratory" view of pornography but noted a contradictory tone in portraying Danielle as someone in need of rescue. He concluded that the film "wallow[s]" in its own contradiction without offering much genuine pleasure.[30] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film one and a half stars out of four, calling it a "nasty piece of business" and criticizing its misleading marketing as a teen comedy.[31]

Accolades

[edit]
Year Award Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
2004 Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie Your Parents Didn't Want You to See The Girl Next Door Nominated [citation needed]
2005 MTV Movie Awards Best Kiss Elisha Cuthbert and Emile Hirsch Nominated [32]
Best Breakthrough Performance Elisha Cuthbert Nominated [32]

Soundtrack

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Rosen, Christopher (October 29, 2014). "The Juice Was Worth The Squeeze: Looking Back On 'The Girl Next Door'". The Huffington Post.
  2. ^ "The Girl Next Door - American Film Institute". Retrieved January 1, 2025.
  3. ^ "The Girl Next Door | PowerGrid". Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  4. ^ "The Girl Next Door (2004): Destroyed by Poor Marketing". New Regency fully financed The Girl Next Door for $21 million and Fox distributed the film in most markets.
  5. ^ "The Girl Next Door (2004) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
  6. ^ a b "The Girl Next Door (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
  7. ^ "See Olivia Wilde's Style Evolution Through the Years, From The O.C. to OMG". E! Online. March 10, 2024. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d "The Girl Next Door". Then & Now Movie Locations. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  9. ^ Jesse Carp (July 31, 2012). "Girl Next Door Writer-Director Luke Greenfield Sets up Two New Features". CinemaBlend. The writer-director should be best known for his underrated 2004 cult hit The Girl Next Door, starring Elisha Cuthbert
  10. ^ "Luke Greenfield to Direct Comedy Half-Brothers for Focus Features". Collider. May 7, 2019.
  11. ^ John McDermott (May 17, 2017). "The Internet Killed the Teen Sex Comedy". MelMagazine.com. The Girl Next Door (2004) is something of a cult classic now, but it failed to make its money back in theaters.
  12. ^ a b "Greenfield takes 'Girl' to Regency". Variety. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
  13. ^ "Regency lines up 'Girl'". Variety. Archived from the original on August 8, 2025. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
  14. ^ "Filming Locations for 'The Girl Next Door' (2004), in California". The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  15. ^ a b c d "'The Girl Next Door' filming locations". Movie Maps .org. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  16. ^ a b "'The Girl Next Door' filming locations". IAMNOTASTALKER. October 15, 2010. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  17. ^ a b Shrestha, Naman (June 2, 2022). "Where Was The Girl Next Door (2004) Filmed?". The Cinemaholic. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  18. ^ "Server Busy".
  19. ^ "The Girl Next Door Blu-ray (Unrated Version)" – via www.blu-ray.com.
  20. ^ Copyright notice in the credits for The Girl Next Door, 2001.
  21. ^ Sakoui, Anousha (February 26, 2016). "Fortress-Backed New Regency Seeks Oscar Three-Peat in `Revenant'". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
  22. ^ "The Girl Next Door (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  23. ^ "The Girl Next Door". Metacritic. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
  24. ^ "Girl Next Door, The (2004) B+". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
  25. ^ Linden, Sheri (February 23, 2004). "The Girl Next Door". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 7, 2004.
  26. ^ Thomson, Desson (April 9, 2004). "'The Girl Next Door': Bodies and Brains". Washington Post.
  27. ^ Owen Gleiberman (April 7, 2004). "The Girl Next Door". Entertainment Weekly.
  28. ^ Leydon, Joe (February 22, 2004). "The Girl Next Door". Variety.
  29. ^ Keith Phipps (June 4, 2004). "The Girl Next Door". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on November 15, 2019.
  30. ^ Scott, A. O. (April 9, 2004). "FILM REVIEW; The Perfect Girl, Except for the Résumé". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 28, 2015.
  31. ^ Ebert, Roger (April 9, 2004). "The Girl Next Door". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved April 1, 2022 – via RogerEbert.com.
  32. ^ a b Cosgrove, Ben (May 4, 2005). "Vicious Teens And Happy Drunk Lead 2005 MTV Movie Awards Nominees". MTV News. Archived from the original on September 4, 2014. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to The Girl Next Door.