The Boy Next Door: Movie Review
It has been about thirteen years since director Rob Cohen made a good movie, and if you were not a fan of 2002’s “XXX”, then you would have to go all the way back to the mid-90’s for something decent from the filmmaker. Cohen’s two previous films were franchise killers, 2008’s “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” and 2012’s “Alex Cross”. I seriously doubt “The Fast and Furious” franchise that he started in 2001 would be the powerhouse it is today if he continued on with the series. This is why I am in no way surprised that Cohen’s latest “The Boy Next Door” (which is not a sequel to “The Girl Next Door”) is a total stinker. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney turned screenwriter, Barbara Curry makes her debut with what feels like one of the laziest thrillers I have seen in awhile.
Jennifer Lopez who is a much better actress than people give her credit for does her best with her role as Claire Peterson, a school teacher and mother who is recently separated from her husband (John Corbett). When a handsome young man named Noah (Ryan Guzman) moves in next door with his uncle, Claire instantly finds herself attracted. Noah is charming, sweet, funny, and becomes a good friend to Claire’s son Kevin (Ian Nelson). Not to mention that Noah loves classic literature , which is what Claire teaches.
After Claire has a drunken one-night-stand with Noah, and then tries to explain to him that it was a mistake, the young man instantly begins to show that there is something not-quite-right going on in his head. Just like we have seen a million times before in similar films (which usually had the gender’s reversed), Noah begins to stalk and torment Claire, to the point where she becomes at risk of losing everything in her life that she holds dear.
The lack of originality isn’t the main problem with “The Boy Next Door”, but that it’s just so incredibly stupid. Guzman is just way over the top but never feels threatening enough. Claire’s best friend and vice principal at the school (Kristin Chenoweth) feels more like a TV sitcom character rather than a real person and Corbett is just walking through this mess without a care in the world.
If I had one positive thing to say about “The Boy Next Door” is that I was happy to see a studio release an R-rated genre flick instead of the safe PG-13, but aside from some graphic violence in the final act, it doesn’t do enough to take advantage of that rating. Let’s hope everyone involved had better luck with their next projects.
By: Marc Ferman
