Review of The Boy Next Door (2015) by Gena A — 02 Feb 2015

Ridiculous, stupid, and poorly made, The Boy Next Door might only be enjoyable as something to laugh at, but never with. Rob Cohen isn't aware what kind of movie he's making. He's not in on the joke. He's not even interested in making a pulpy and steamy thriller. There's nothing steamy or sensual about this film, it seems like a middle school boy's understanding of sexuality, and so most of the seduction comes across as gross, rather than steamy.

The plot of this film is laughable, because the stakes don't really exist. There is no reason for Lopez not to come clean about her indiscretion once the severity of her seducer's psychosis is revealed. Nothing she did was illegal, it wasn't even that unethical, and her marriage wasn't really at risk here either. But the film is unaware of this at all times, and director Rob Cohen seems unable to handle real tension if it doesn't deal with a big car chase.

The writing here is laughable at best. Even the characters who are supposed to be highly intelligent just come off as sophomoric. There are a couple of intellectual discourses that I couldn't help but laugh at throughout. None of the decisions made make much sense, and you're just banging your head against the wall, wondering why anyone would act like this.

Once again, this movie is something fun to watch if you're just interested in laughing at how this movie could have ever gotten made. I submit this to the podcast How Did This Get Made, because I'd love to see that crew rip this film to shreds.