Reviews

There is simply no way to start this review without stating one simple fact. Cutie Honey absolutely, positively should not work as a movie on any kind of level. It has all the ingredients of celluloid disaster stamped across its hot pink exterior. Let's run off the checklist shall we? Live action version of a popular cartoon? Check. A model turned actress cast in the lead role? Check. Heavy usage of cheap looking CG throughout? Check. Outrageous levels of camp? Check.Acting that belongs in a Loony Toons cartoon? Check.

Yes, Cutie Honey should not work, but much to my surprise and resulting delight, it does on almost every level. Based on ageing anime and manga property that dates back to the 1970's, the movie tells the ludicrous tale of Honey Kisaragi, an almost unbearably cute office worker who leads a double life as the titular spandex clad Cutie Honey, self proclaimed 'warrior of love' and arch nemesis of the evil Panther Claw gang.

Opening with a bizarre sequence that sees Honey sprinting through the streets clad only in her underwear, a bin liner and scoffing Onigiri before leaping into battle against a strangely androgynous warrior in golden armour, the movie starts as it means to go on, namely in as silly a manner as possible. The movie is pure parody from start to finish and was clearly never intended as a straight piece in any way, shape or form. Everything from the costume and set design, through to the special effects and carefully studied but nevertheless broad performances work together surprisingly well. Indeed it is the performances that truly elevate the movie way beyond its early promise of being a big budget Power Rangers knockoff.

The lead trio of Eriko Sato (who I first saw in the TV version of Densha Otoko), Mikako Ichikawa and Jun Murakami as Honey, Detective Natsuko and shady photojournalist Seiji respectively deserve the biggest credit here which is fortunate as they have the lion's share of the screen time.

Sato's performance in particular comes as a surprise considering her relatively short acting career at this point. While the somewhat two dimensional Honey was never going to be a stretch for most actresses, the characters brainless manner and relentless optimism could easily have ruled her and turned our heroine into an excruciatingly annoying one note joke. Instead Sato turns Honey into a staunch and heroic fighter of evil one minute, and adorably dimwitted office girl the next with a steady through line of heart-warming kindness and optimism that ties the two characters together.

Visually Cutie Honey is something of a treat as well, being one of the closest things you will ever see to a live action anime. It even manages to go so far as including several knowing tips of the hat to its animated forefathers, including characters flying through the air, millions of rockets hurtling toward their targets and backgrounds giving way to speed lines when the action shifts into high gear. Even the cheap looking CG effects fit well within the movie. Since the reality of this film is quite plainly not our own, occasionally plastic looking CG characters or lapses in animation standards are more excusable and in their own way, prove to be as charming as the performances.

Of course not to mention the director of this inspired lunacy would be a crime unto itself. Hideaki Anno once again proves to be possessed of unique insight into the emotions of his characters. Some of the emotional beats the movie strums along to are curiously similar to his most famous (or infamous depending on your point of view) work in Neon Genesis Evangelion, although the tone of Honey is infinitely lighter than that of Evangelion. Anno's direction is confident and his playful, sometimes biting sense of humour is clear for all to see. The movie relentlessly mocks not only anime conventions and stereotypes but its own silliness at the same time, coming to a head in a very entertaining drunken Karaoke session involving our three leads.

Flaws are present though. The narrative, while hardly the movie's driving purpose, could still have been clearer and a little more focused. The Claws themselves make fun, if shallow villains, though they lack substantial motivation. The biggest drawback is the chief villain of Sister Jill, who feels more like a plot point presented as a full stop than a truly fun character in keeping with the spirit of the rest of the film. While the narrative does justify this personality (or lack thereof), it still makes for a staid and lacklustre final confrontation.

Overall though, Cutie Honey is such a relentlessly cheerful movie it is hard not to get swept up by its boundless optimism. As an antidote to the countless dour Hollywood action flicks of the near decade since the release of the first Matrix movie, it serves its purpose admirably, and as a movie guaranteed to put a smile on your face there is none better.

As Eastern cinema grows more and more popular in the West, largely thanks to its being aped by such filmmakers as the Wachowskis and Quentin Tarantino, an increasing number of cinematic gems from across Eastern Asia are now arriving in the West. While films like Hero and House of Flying Daggers gain widespread theatrical releases, the more common place to find some of these films is on DVD and that's precisely where I found Arahan.

Having never heard of it before I was struck by the synopsis on the back of the box that likened it to Stephen Chow's (he of Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer fame) manic output I took a chance on it and was mildly surprised by what I saw.

Directed with confidence and occasional flare by Ryu Seung-Wan, Arahan tells the story of Sang (played Ryu Seung-Bum who you may recognise from Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance), a somewhat goofy and ineffective cop who no one can seem to take seriously. After a disastrous attempt to ticket the local congressman's chauffeur for running a red light, Sang spies a purse-snatcher and promptly gives chase. Unknown to him the purse-snatcher is also being pursued by Eui-Jin (played by Yun Soy), a Tao master in training. When Sang is struck by her errant palm blast he finds himself in the care of the Seven Masters (oddly enough there are only five of them). Harbouring a crush on Eui-Jin and a strong desire to kick some ass, Sang begins training under the Masters in the hopes of Maruchi, or enlightened male master.

One thing Arahan is not is slow. It moves at a brisk clip while at the same time managing to feel unhurried in reaching it's destination. It also boasts some fun characters. Seung-Bum is delightful to watch as Sang. The unusual combination of barrel bottom self esteem, stubborn pride and impatience is interesting to watch and Seung-Bum manages to carry it off wonderfully without ever letting the character descend into a mess of neuroses which could have so easily happened. Yun Soy makes a suitable foil and displays a lot of fire in her performance but her delivery sometimes falls a little flat. Admittedly she has less to work with as the slightly clichéd girl with great power and responsibility who just wants to lead a normal life has been a fairly common theme in recent years but all in all she acquits herself well. Jeong Doo-Hong is also well cast as the movies icy villain Heuk-Un, a former Tao Master with a neat line in martial arts moves and a PhD in not knowing when to call it quits.

In terms of action (for Arahan is a Kung Fu movie so not to mention it would defeat a lot of the object in a review of the film) Arahan manages to pull out some neat scenes, using the full gamut of tricks currently employed in the genre including extensive wire work in some of the later battles, occasional use of CG and a nice mixture of sword and fist fights to lend the scenes some variety. It never truly raises the bar and on occasion the fights can be heavily edited, perhaps to cover some of the performers lack of skill. By and large though it gets the blood pumping and will make you wince at just the right moments, all the ingredients of some decent Kung Fu.

Unfortunately Arahan does have one fairly large flaw. While billed as a comedy, Arahan can be surprisingly uneven in its tone. Much of the films humour tends to be slapstick although there are some knowing asides to Kung Fu genre in general particularly at the very beginning. The result of this somewhat broad humour combined with the manic performances will bring smiles to all but the most jaded. The downside to this however is when the film wants to get serious it pulls some nasty sucker punches that deaden the otherwise light and bouncy mood so suddenly you'll wonder if you're still watching the same film. Sang's ego destroying beating at the hands of a gang of thugs and any scene where Heuk-Un turns up are good examples of this and it's only toward the movies end that the two distinct tones of the movie begin to mesh any where close to successfully. It's a bit of a shame really. While the humour is welcome and largely on the nose (if a little broad at times), had it been reigned in slightly, perhaps been made a little more subtle, the films jarring changes of mood would have been less noticeable and the film itself doubtless would have been stronger for it.

In the end Arahan overcomes its flaws to provide a largely entertaining and irreverent slice of Kung Fu with a sideline in unexpected brutality. It may not be able to go head to head with best of Chow's output, but that it can be mentioned in the same sentence is more than praise enough.

I remember seeing the trailer to the original Resident Evil and thinking, 'oh dear, they've really gone and ballsed this one up quite badly'. On going to see the movie, I left the cinema if not overly impressed, then at least mildly surprised that director Paul Anderson had managed to pull one out of his ass to create a reasonably enjoyable pop corn munching horror flick. My impressions Alexander Witt's sequel, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, were much the same.

Following on almost immediately from the original, the sequel opens with the monstrous T Virus being let loose from the previous movie's lab complex into the city above. The movie follows the survivors of the disaster, including Sienna Guillory's ridiculously attired Jill Valentine, Oded Fehr's hunky mercenary Carlos Olivera, Mike Epps' stereotypical black pimp L.J. and of course the only true survivor of the original movie, Milla Jovovich's zombie beating Alice. Also set loose in the city is Nemesis, a seven-foot tall mountain of a monster packing a minigun, a rocket launcher and a bizarre S&M outfit.

Pillaging it's inspirations from a number of sources, including Dawn of the Dead, Resident Evil 2 & 3 and 28 Days Later, it's fair say that Apocalypse's plot and dialogue are not its strong points. Anderson's script is at times laughably poor. Lines like 'we're expendable assets, and we've just been expended' are so horribly clunky that it's hardly surprising the movie's acting is getting such bad press. The movie's narrative is equally cumbersome and also badly fractured. It jumps around constantly in a vain attempt to keep track of multiple plot threads, never really spending enough time with any one of them to create any satisfactory pay off at the movie's end and as such there is little depth to either the story or its characters. There are however some nice tips of the hat to existing Resident Evil fans, including an action sequence ripped straight from the opening movie of Code Veronica and little dig at the games fixed camera perspective.

In terms of acting, well I'm sure the actors were doing their best with what material they had but it might have helped if they had some slightly more talented performers on board. Milla Jovovich has proved herself several times in the past, most noticeably to the wider public as Leeloo in the Fifth Element, but she is miscast here as a tough as nails, steely eyed zombie slayer. Guillory's Jill is equally awkward as she tries to pull off a worryingly similar character Alice, all the time struggling with bad dialogue and an embarrassing costume that sticks a little too close to Resident Evil 3 for comfort. Fehr's Carlos has little to do except shoot big guns but at least Epps gets some surprising mileage of what is essentially a one dimensional comic relief role.

Beyond these faults there are numerous others. Nemesis is quite frankly an awful monster. Like Jill's costume, his design sits too close to the game for comfort. Perhaps someone should tell Witt that what looks good in the stylised environments of computer game does not always transfer well to the heightened reality of a motion picture and Nemesis is a case in point. He just isn't scary, looking more like the Toxic Avenger than any kind of formidable uber mutant. Witt's direction is also lacking in many areas, particularly in the movie's slower, talkier moments. For scares (the meat and potatoes of any good horror movie, even one as action skewed as this) he relies far too much on cheap jump scares, lurching things unexpectedly into camera with an accompanying blast of audio. Anderson pulled the same trick in the original movie but at least managed to pace it a little better. Here Witt succeeds only in deadening the viewer to it, until even his best attempts don't even elicit so much as a twitch. His experience as a second unit director does shine through in his panache with the movie's visual side however, and he occasionally manages to evoke some surprisingly effective imagery, so long as Nemesis isn't on screen.

Fortunately Apocalypse has two saving graces, it's frenetic pace and capably handled action. The movie is nothing if not action packed and here Witt manages to exceed Anderson's handling of similar sequences in the original while the actors make up for the sleepy performances with some energetic gun and hand-to-hand fighting. Some sequences are really quite enjoyable, most notably the trailer moment of Alice running down a building. At times however, his overly jerky camera work can become distracting, hampering the viewers ability to see what is going on. Compared to movies like the recent Bourne Supremacy, Apocalypse is relatively restrained in this regard however. The movie's adrenaline fueled progress never lets up and also lends it some much needed energy that was otherwise in danger of being sapped away by its leaden dialogue and unoriginal premise.

Above all though, Apocalypse manages to be a decidedly passable action romp through a zombie fueled nightmare city. It may lack Shaun of the Dead's biting humour, or 28 Days Later's horrific imagery, but it does succeed in sweeping the viewer through some fun action sequences and some intermittently pretty photography which in this kind of film is really all that matters.

24 is one of those programmes. It's the kind of show that turns up every few years only to have everyone hooked and screaming its praises from every rooftop. Trouble is, these shows are almost always glorified to the extent that they can never truly live up to the hype surrounding them. Currently in production for its fourth season, the concept of the show is an interesting one. Based around the exploits of a counter terrorist unit based out of Los Angeles, each series takes place over the course of one day, with each episode representing one hour within said day. Events are followed in real time, inter cutting between a variety of story lines and characters. At the heart of the show is Jack Bauer (played to maximum effect by Kiefer Sutherland, an actor who I have previously underestimated). Jack is a curious combination of factors. Uncompromising and willing to go to just about any means to fulfil his mission, he is also desperate to find some small shred of peace within his life and his devotion to both his family and his duty are frequently played off one another. Surrounding Jack are a variety of other characters many of whom I simply don't have space to mention. Among the more regular players are Senator/President David Palmer (played by Dennis Haysbert), the first African American to run for President and actually stand a chance and Tony Almeida (a wonderfully soft spoken Carlos Bernard), a fellow CTU agent of Jack who has a tendency to butt heads with the show's lead. Finally there's Jack's daughter Kim played by the (quite frankly gorgeous) Elisha Cuthbert, but more on her later. Characterisation is by and large quite strong, and the constantly shifting nature of the cast means even bit players may get their chance to return and give their characters time to shine. The dialogue can sometimes run a little dry, and considering the borderline absurdity of some of its situations, the show manages to take itself almost a touch too seriously. There's almost no humour here.

So far, each season of 24 has moved at a breakneck pace, ripping wildly through one implausible yarn after another. It's covered assassinations, nuclear weapons and biological warfare agents, combined with a healthy dose of good old-fashioned backstabbing and double-dealing on the side. The plot lines rarely slow to take a breath, which is fortunate, as if they did, some of the series frequently sloppy writing would be far more glaringly obvious.

Here in lies 24's greatest problem, and that is the sheer duality of its nature. The twenty-four hour gimmick used quite well in the first season but of less importance as the show has grown and developed in the following years, is both its strongest asset its greatest weakness. Ignoring the sheer implausibility of so much taking place in just one day, the real time format effectively imposes one storyline on the series that has to last. Attempts are made to keep things fresh by constantly shifting story's focus (most obviously in season 3). These attempts can sometimes be successful (the introduction of the Drazen's in season 1 came at just the right time to allow the story to expand and develop some depth) and can also fail (the latter third of season 2 that trailed off dramatically as the change involved robbed the story of a great deal of momentum and danger that the series had spent a long time developing). By season 3, the problems are becoming increasingly acute. More and more plot strands are being left undeveloped or simply tossed at the wayside and the whole season effectively gives the game away. Until now the writers have managed to support the idea that the each season's story has been pre planned to some degree, a paper thin illusion that to my mind has been completely torn apart in the third season, finally proving that like so many other shows, the story has been made up as they went along.

One of the show's other greatest flaws is the sheer overabundance of filler material, once again stemming from the real time format. With close to a day's worth of film to fill, the writers had two options open to them. The first and more difficult option would have been to completely plan a meticulous and complex story that could adequately fill the required amount of time without becoming incomprehensible or tedious. The second is to throw in a bunch of extraneous story lines that frequently serve only to distract from the matter at hand. Guess which option the writers chose. The most obvious use of subplots and even characters being used solely to bulk out the running time is evidenced (at least in the first two seasons) by Jack's family, more specifically, Kim. First of all, let me say that I have absolutely no problem with Kim in the acting department. Elisha Cuthbert deserves credit for investing the character with some weight and drama, but her task isn't made any easier by some, quite honestly, god-awful writing. Kim stumbles from one bad situation to the next so often that you begin to wonder if the girl really is the anti Christ that the shows fans have dubbed her. Her 'drastic' circumstances will have you clapping a hand to your forehead in dismay at just how contrived they are. This problem is at its worst in season 2 where Kim's story serves only to detract from everything surrounding it. It has virtually no bearing on the main story and becomes increasingly implausible and downright embarrassing in its closing stages.

Ultimately, 24 is an ambitious show that truly succeeds when all its disparate successes come together to form a cohesive whole. For the most part however, it is fractured and stilted. While it remains fun and compulsive thanks to the constant twists and turns (no matter how contrived they may be) it rarely truly shines.

Despite his recent slide into mediocrity, John Carpenter is responsible for what could be termed some of the biggest cult movies of the 1980's. Following his resounding success with Halloween he went on to direct a number of quirky yet excellent movies that began to tail of toward the end of the 80's with the release of such dross as Prince of Darkness. Carpenters movies are probably some of the most under appreciated pictures of recent cinema history on a commercial level, and none more so than perhaps one of his finest, the delightfully absurd action movie Big Trouble in Little China.

The plot is as daft as they come. Loud mouthed truck driver Jack Burton (played by Carpenter's long time collaborator Kurt Russell) arrives in San Francisco's Chinatown where he agrees to help out old friend Wang (played by Denis Dun) by driving him to the airport to pick up his green eyed fiancé. Things quickly go south however when a band of street punks kidnap the girl and the motley duo set off in pursuit. The pair soon find themselves caught in the middle of gang war that takes on a decidedly mythical bent and are forced to flee while Jack's truck is stolen. All this occurs within the first fifteen to twenty minutes.

If there's one thing you can say about Big Trouble, it's that it's action packed. The plot (such as it is) moves at an incredible pace and the film rarely slows to take breath as it rolls from one action set piece to the next. In such movies, normally the dialogue, and subsequently the acting suffer from a lack of any real attention. Not so here. Carpenter balances everything so perfectly that it's a wonder his career took such a slide. Although the actual story may be incredibly absurd and at times suffers from some rather obvious gaps of logic, the dialogue never fails to sparkle. Russell gives his very best wise ass shtick as Burton, the confused have a go hero who's so out of his depth he should really be fish bait, while Dun excels with a character who is consistently more heroic and capable than the lead. Another wonderful turn comes from an appearance by a young Kim Cattrall (of Sex and the City fame) as Gracie Law, a downmarket lawyer with an ability to talk at incredible speed. Some of the scenes between these three are pure comic genius, as Dun and Cattrall rattle out plot information at a rapid staccato pace while an increasingly bewildered Russell tries desperately to keep up.

Despite such positive remarks, Big Trouble was perhaps one of Carpenter's biggest commercial flops. While many of the movie's fans find this difficult to understand I do not. The reason for its failure is really incredibly simple. In terms of its style and the underlying comedy behind the piece, Carpenter's loving part tribute, part send up of all things Kung Fu was way ahead of the curve in every important respect. Take the relationship between our 'hero' Jack and his 'sidekick' Wang. The true dynamic of this relationship is a wonderfully post modern slant on the cliché buddy dynamic that existed in the 80's and it was done long before post modernist humour became truly fashionable in films (the most obvious example of post modern piece of cinema being Scream). Despite receiving star billing, Russell's Jack is actually a sidekick to Wang. While Wang has the knowledge, the skill and the courage to make him a true classic hero figure, Jack lags behind, being brash, ignorant and of little actual use in a fight. Similarly the action, although remarkably quaint by today's standards in both its look and execution, is a surprisingly accurate foreshadow of the current Hollywood move toward the more graceful, balletic chaos exhibited by movies like The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Ultimately Big Trouble in Little China is a movie that survived thanks to the home video market and for that we can only be grateful. While its looks may have aged, its sense of humour and style is as fresh today as the day it first rolled out in cinemas. In short, it's pure escapist magic.

The world of black comedies has seen few truly classic entries in the past few years. It's a very specific sub genre of comedy that is extremely hard to do well as films like Very Bad Things frequently signify. Too many of Hollywood's more recent offerings feature truly tasteless gags that poke fun at subjects that should simply be left well enough alone. Well I have to say that Hollywood could learn a thing or two from its own past in this department. I recently rediscovered a childhood favourite of mine, The Burbs, and I have to admit that age has not in the least bit dulled the film's razor sharp wit and acid tongued dialogue

Tom Hanks plays Ray Peterson, an overstressed suburbanite who's decided to spend his vacation lounging around the house in a vain effort to relax. Of course he finds his efforts hindered by the constant presence of his somewhat excitable neighbors Art Weingartner (Rick Ducommun) and Mark Rumsfield (Bruce Dern) who suspect the new family in the neighbourhood, the Klopeks, of being mass murderers. Together these three decide to look into the suspicious nature of their new neighbors and just what exactly it is they get up to at night, the time when the otherwise reclusive Klopeks seem to be at their most active.

The premise is basically the set up for another of Joe Dante's (who directed both Gremlins and its remake in all but name, Small Soldiers) bedlam filled romps through suburbs in which he casts a sideways glance at all things American dream.

Quite frankly, my nostalgia for this movie makes it hard to find fault with it. Hanks is as funny as ever, playing it relatively straight compared to his other performances of the period and bringing a lovely shade of deep seated unease to an otherwise grounded character. Bruce Dern fills his role wonderfully, as the military obsessed Rumsfield, a character surprisingly reminiscent of survivalist Burt Gummer from the Tremors movies in both his nature and ability to steal scenes. The only weak link in the leading trio is Ducommun, which is a shame as it is really Art that drives the story more than any other character in the movie. Sure, Art has to be slightly obnoxious and a little irritating but Ducommun overplays these aspects so much that I began to find it painful to watch him as the end of the movie approached. It's hardly a surprise when Hanks tries to kill him. I can't help but feel that perhaps the late John Candy would have fit the role slightly better, bringing some more human and likable qualities to the character.

At times however, The Burbs can feel a little uneasy in its pacing and sense of humour. Scenes like the screaming at the bone, although funny, seem out of place in what is otherwise a movie with a very dry sense of humour. Meanwhile the Klopeks are unveiled as characters perhaps a little too late in the story for the audience to truly develop any kind of opinions about them.

Despite some small problems however, The Burbs remains an extremely funny movie with some terrific dialogue and almost universally good performances from its cast. I defy anyone not to laugh at Rumsfield's fall from the roof of his house or every man Ray's furious rant at the movie's close. For fans of black comedies, The Burbs is a perfect antidote to the current glut of obnoxious Hollywood gross out comedies and the Farrelly Brothers increasingly desperate to offend pieces.

The recent glut of 90's gross out teen movies has just received another member into its fold. However, while the likes of Road Trip and American Pie may be welcomed with open arms and encouraging pats on the back, The Girl Next Door is more likely to be greeted with a non committal handshake and a couple of suspicious sideways glances. You see, this movie, despite its flaws (and there are plenty) manages to possess something that so many similar films lack. Namely? A heart.

I will admit to not being averse to a bit of gross out humour. While such gags as those in the American Pie movies are hardly high art, they at least draw a belly laugh from the audience now and then. I went in to The Girl Next Door with the opinion that this was going to be another attempt by Hollywood to follow the now successful American Pie recipe. Throw a bunch of attractive twenty something's into a film to play characters up to ten years their juniors, add a couple of party scenes, a vaguely pop/rock soundtrack and plenty of bodily fluids. Leave to bake until a nice golden brown before serving to the viewing public.

Imagine my surprise then, when I found The Girl Next Door to be more akin to some of the classic teen movies of the 1980's, in particular the early Tom Cruise vehicle Risky Business. While it never quite reaches the balance or sharpness of some of those films, it nevertheless manages to stand aloof from its more modern brethren, and dare I say it, perhaps a touch higher as well.

Young Matthew Kidman (played by Emile Hirsch) is coming to the end of his High School life. He's a straight A student who aims to succeed in everything he does. Needless to say, he has also kept to the straight and narrow, and now that his High School days are coming to a close he's beginning to feel that he may have missed out on the wilder side of his youth. All this will change however when the gorgeous Danielle begins house sitting next door (24's Elisha Cuthbert). The pair spark up a relationship as the more confident and free spirited Danielle tries to help Matthew discover what he's been missing out on all these years.

It is in this early portion of the film that The Girl Next Door most resembles some of its classic predecessors. The cast mesh exceedingly well together, Hirsch and Cuthbert providing stand out performances that really elevate the movie beyond its somewhat mundane early premise. Hirsch's Matthew is a wonderfully balanced character who is both intelligent, and yet occasionally astonishingly naïve. It also makes a nice change that despite his relatively buttoned down lifestyle, Matthew can hardly be described as a geek. Cuthbert puts in a wonderful turn as Danielle providing the character with a more down to earth feel than many of the similar characters in other movies, and succeeds in making the audience understand why Matthew falls for her the way he does. Also of note is Chris Marquette as Matthew's terminally horny and pornography obsessed friend Eli.

It's hardly hiding any major plot twist to say that Danielle is somewhat more than she first appears. Eli's viewing habits quickly uncover the fact that she is a porn star and it's with this revelation that the movie loses its way somewhat. The plot line becomes increasingly dense and convoluted as it tries to tie together numerous plot strands and only half succeeding. The introduction of Timothy Olyphant (best known as the drug dealer Tod from Go) as Danielle's producer and ex boyfriend Kelly also proves to be both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because Olyphant was born to play these kind of laid back, cool yet sleazy types, and effortlessly manages to steal every scene he's in, a curse for almost exactly the same reason. Kelly quickly becomes one of the movie's major driving forces and his efforts to keep the two apart practically supplant the increasingly awkward romance of Danielle and Matthew. The dramatic decrease in Cuthbert's actual screen time in the movies second act only serves to hammer this fact home. At roughly an hour and forty minutes, the film is also a little long. Comedies should never really run above an hour and a half, and this one could easily have been condensed if some of the extraneous plot elements had been dropped.

However, despite struggling under its own weight in the second act, director Luke Greenfield manages to pull everything together for what is ultimately a fun and satisfying conclusion. The final twist to the story is wonderful and the last scenes manage to tread that oh so fine line between cool touching sentiment and cloying mushiness.

The Girl Next door is ultimately a film that aspires to loftier goals than so many of its contemporaries. It strives to tug at your heart and truly make you feel for the characters involved. That it by and large succeeds in that goal is a testament to the movie. However the fact that it loses its bottle halfway through and throws in a series of unnecessary and often distracting plot lines to try and compensate for a deficiency that quite frankly didn't exist in the first place is all the more saddening. Those waiting for a classic modern teen movie to rank up there with films like Say Anything and The Breakfast Club will unfortunately have to wait just that little bit longer.