Tags
2010's, Ian Nelson, Jennifer Lopez, John Corbett, Kristin Chenoweth, Rob Cohen, Ryan Guzman, The Boy Next Door, Thriller
Film Title
The Boy Next Door
Director
Rob Cohen
Starring
- Jennifer Lopez as Claire Peterson
- Ryan Guzman as Noah Sandborn
- John Corbett as Garrett Peterson
- Ian Nelson as Kevin Peterson
- Kristin Chenoweth as Vicky Lansing
I must say before I go into this review that I sometimes don’t mind derivative movies full of clichés. As long as they’re entertaining I can accept some of the flaws within them. The same can’t be said about The Boy Next Door, which is clichéd as hell but not at all thrilling or riveting in the slightest.
Claire Peterson is an attractive English teacher with a teenage son Kevin. She is currently in the process of contemplating divorce from her unfaithful husband Garrett. Her best friend and fellow member of school staff Vicky attempts to fix her up with various dates, but none of them are to any avail. While she is attempting to make a decision about her precarious marriage, her next door neighbour’s handsome nephew Noah Sandborn moves in. The charming Noah seems to be a nice guy who helps Kevin out with school bullies, is well versed in the literature that Claire teaches and cares for his ailing uncle. He begins to flirt with Claire, who sees it as harmless and somewhat flattering. Yet after she gives into passion and sleeps with him, events begin to take an unexpected turn. While she dismisses their sexual encounter as a mistake, the young Noah takes the situation to obsessive and terrifying heights. What started as a mistake soon grows into violent consequences as Noah descends into full-on psychosis and begins to terrorise Claire and all of the people close to her. As this reign of terror becomes more disturbing and increasingly warped, Claire must find a way to survive before it’s too late.
As mentioned earlier, I can forgive some clichéd movies with a repeating formula if they entertain me. But to say that I was entertained while watching The Boy Next Door would be a major lie. The whole thing for lack of a better word is a failure. It is supposed to be a terrifying thriller, but any thrills that I tried to conjure up where laughably bad. I can say the same thing about the script which is littered with hopelessly awful dialogue that will make you cringe more than once. Rob Cohen’s uninspired direction does the movie no favours and could have been better. This is the kind of film in which characters make ridiculous decisions that are dumb and really stretch credibility. Another thing about The Boy Next Door is that it feels at various times to just be an excuse to see Jennifer Lopez and Ryan Guzman in states of undress. The camera ogles Lopez’s curves and breasts whenever it can, while also taking in the sweaty muscles and peachy bum of Guzman in a scene in which he takes a shower with the curtains open. Not that I have anything against that, but the excessive display of flesh doesn’t make this movie any more watchable. The score attempts to be creepy with choral voices but is way off the mark.
Jennifer Lopez, when given the right material, can be a very capable actress. The opportunity to use her talent is completely wasted in this endeavour, as her character makes some really misguided decisions. She is still as sexy as ever, but her gorgeous presence can’t save this messy movie. Ryan Guzman may have some charm as Noah, he just can’t quite flex his acting muscles that convincingly when showing Noah’s obsession with Claire. Then again the character is so badly written no one could have brought any credibility to it. None of the other roles of John Corbett, Ian Nelson and Kristin Chenoweth are really memorable and are merely superfluous.
All I have left to say is avoid The Boy Next Door at all costs.
fernandorafael said:
Yeah, I think I’ll just stare at photos of Ryan Guzmán for 2 hours instead.
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vinnieh said:
That’s probably a good idea. I take it his shower scene impressed you.
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fernandorafael said:
Haven’t seen the movie but I can imagine that being a very good scene. Maybe it’s on YouTube…
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vinnieh said:
I think you’d love it if you like Guzman.
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impossiblegirl123 said:
Interesting since the movie was totally hyped everywhere. I haven’t seen in myself, but I trust your judgment. Too bad though … I mean I am not a particular fan of Jennifer Lopez in movies (except maybe romantic comedies) but Guzman was supposed to be promisable. I really liked him in the Step Up movies, so this sounds kind of disappointing.
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vinnieh said:
I do think Guzman has talent, he is just given such bad lines to deliver in this movie and the film as a whole is just a miss. Though I’m sure you’d like the shower scene with his peachy bum on show.
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impossiblegirl123 said:
Yeah, I imagine that particular scene might convince me to watch the movie anyway hahaha
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vinnieh said:
I thought it might.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
It’s a sad day indeed when not even shots of peachy bums can save a movie.😕
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vinnieh said:
Indeed it is Kim. Though I’m sure you’d love the scene with the peachy bum. Sorry I couldn’t find any decent images for you.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
That’s okay Vinnie. You do what you can.😊
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vinnieh said:
I do try. And I must sign off now, must catch up on my sleep. Talk to you tomorrow Kim.
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beetleypete said:
Yet again, you have saved two hours of my life that might well have been wasted watching this. Not only are you a blogger, you also provide a social service V!
Cheers mate, Pete.
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vinnieh said:
I’m always happy to provide a service.
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Laura said:
Ha, sounds terrible. There’s a poster for this on a phone box I walk past every day on my way home and I always chuckle because I feel like the poster, title and casting tell me everything I need to know about the plot!
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vinnieh said:
And you would be dead right about that Laura.
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MovieManJackson said:
Yep, this is terrible. I actually remember being excited for this because I thought it would be of the so bad it’s good variety, and I like this genre (Play Misty for Me, Swimfan, etc). But boy, this had no fun to be had whatsoever.
And eventually, I just thought: “Surely coming clean could alleviate a ton of this trouble, no?” Not like the world hasn’t seen a teacher-student affair. We’ll talk about it but forget it just as fast.
Might be the worst of 2015 so far.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks for commenting, I agree with pretty much everything you said.
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Beth said:
Thanks for the forewarning. I’m not sure I’ve actually liked a movie she’s been in since “Out of Sight”, which I think was one of her first. THATat least kept me entertained with the animal chemistry between the two (although animal chemistry is something Clooney seems to do well no matter who he’s paired with).
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vinnieh said:
I really liked her in that movie as well. But in this flick she is just wasted because of how bad the material is.
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vampireplacebo said:
I couldatold you all that just after watching the trailer… :-p
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vinnieh said:
I totally agree but I had to watch it to warn you all about it.
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Paul S said:
I thought this might be one of those films where it’s so bad that it’s good and I just could sit back and laugh at how bad it was…
Well, your review makes it sound much worse than I ever anticipated, and I didn’t expect much.
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vinnieh said:
Thanks Paul, trust me stay clear of this movie. Really not worth watching.
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Mel @ The Creative Fox Den said:
I keep meaning to watch this because it looks like one of those mindless thrillers but I might skip it now. Doesn’t even look mildly entertaining. Great review!
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vinnieh said:
That’s probably a good idea Mel. Although you may like Guzman’s peachy bum.
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The Telltale Mind said:
Everyone craps on this and yet the more they do, the more I want to see this. Maybe there is something wrong with me? lol
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vinnieh said:
To each their own buddy, this film just wasn’t for me.
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The Telltale Mind said:
I doubt it will be for me either, but I just have a yearning to watch it for some strange reason.
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vinnieh said:
Jennifer Lopez does look amazing in this film so that’s a plus.
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The Telltale Mind said:
She is nice to look at. 🙂
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vinnieh said:
I can’t argue with that.
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theipc said:
LOL – Me too!!
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The Telltale Mind said:
That’s hilarious! lol
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vinnieh said:
You’ll probably love it Eric for J Lo looking as gorgeous as ever.
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theipc said:
We’ll see : )
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theipc said:
Nice work, Ace. I’ll probably still give this a shot when I can see it for free. There’s always Shitfest!
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vinnieh said:
This would make a very good entry for Shitfest.
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emmakwall said:
Great review! Shitfest here you come ha ha ha 🙂
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vinnieh said:
This film is definitely worthy of Shitfest.
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HusbandAndHusband said:
Aaron and I watched this movie the other day. The previews made it look much better than it really was. We were disappointed as well. I think JLO was trying to make another “Enough.”
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vinnieh said:
I was hugely disappointed, such a waste of a film.
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55theintimidator55 said:
Watched and review this recently and it’s a mess. The writer’s priority was get in as many “don’t cheat on your wife” lines as possible into the script. The agenda was as brazen as a branding iron. Seriously, get a podium lady cuz you can’t write.
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vinnieh said:
Pretty much agree with everything you just said.
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teny said:
Missed this one and I am glad about it 😀
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vinnieh said:
You should be glad as it’s a waste of time.
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Bluebird4UDaily said:
I must agree with your take on this film, the over use of skin I think was an attempt to save the script… If this was written as a book (I have no idea if it was) the book was probably better before Hollywood got its hands on it to sell to the masses as a film… Skin in the right places works, but overuse doesn’t work….
Another great review of film, I suppose some movies are just meant to be a time well wasted, if you didn’t have to be doing something else….
Laura ~
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vinnieh said:
I mean a bit of skin is Ok for sexiness, but at least have a story to go with it. I only watched this movie because I couldn’t find anything else to watch. At least Jennifer Lopez looked amazing.
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thoughtsallsorts said:
Totally agree with your last line…this was a disaster that I found myself skipping forward.
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vinnieh said:
I can’t believe I sat through it all, horrendous film.
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thoughtsallsorts said:
Me too…but just had to know what the ending was. Wish I had just left it…
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