The Girl Next Door

When a porn star trying to leave the biz (Elisha Cuthbert) moves in next door, a nerdy soon-to-be high school graduate (Emile Hirsch) gets to know her, Risky Business style. This film has no business being good, but it somehow is. Hirsch is winning as the closed-in kid who falls in love, not knowing the apple of his eye is a former queen of the adult film industry. When he finds out her background, he goes to battle with her former manager (Timothy Olyphant, devilishly funny), who wants her back in the land of Ron Jeremy and frightening toys. This is the sort of vulgar-yet-fun entertainment that was big in the ’80s. After the letdown of the American Pie series, it’s refreshing to see that an R-rated movie about high school kids can still be funny. Things go a little awry in the end, but it’s an overall fun experience. The sight of Cuthbert, star of TV’s 24, standing drenched in the rain might wind up killing more than a few movie patrons.