Film: "The Boy Next Door"; Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Ryan Guzman, Ian
Nelson, John Corbett, Kristin Chenoweth, Lexi Atkins, Hill Harper, Jack
Wallace and Adam Hicks; Director: Rob Cohen; Rating: **
There
have been over a dozen films on cougar relationships, but the most done
to death is the teacher-student romance. "The Boy Next Door" is another
one in the list.
The film features Jennifer Lopez as Mrs. Claire
Peterson, a literature teacher at the local high school. She lives with
her teenage son Kevin (Ian Nelson) and has been having marital problems
of late. She is in a dilemma about divorcing her philandering husband
Garrett (John Corbett).
While she is coping with her
dysfunctional marriage, her son Kevin befriends Noah (Ryan Guzman), "the
boy next door" who has recently moved in. Noah, after losing his
parents in an accident, has moved in the neighbourhood to take care of
his ailing grand uncle (Jack Wallace).
Claire appreciates Noah's
genial and ever obliging, helpful attitude towards her son and herself.
She is further floored by his interest in classic literature and sparks
fly when they notice each other spying.
Then one weekend when
Kevin goes out for an outing with his father, on the pretext of asking
for assistance in salvaging a half-thawed chicken cooking, Noah invites
Claire to his kitchen. Then amidst half-hearted protests and full-on
cajoling, the inevitable happens.
The narration takes a twist
after Claire reveals to Noah that she made a mistake. She tries avoiding
him. And you realise that there is more to just the romance bit. When
Kevin offers Noah some cookies and Noah responds making a dig, "I love
your mother's cookies", His dubious intentions are clear.
Gradually, Noah's obsessions build up leading the narration into a different genre.
The
problem with "The Boy Next Door" is that it lacks the passion of a
romance film and the intensity of a psychological thriller.
Nevertheless, director Rob Cohen keeps the film afloat with these genre
tropes.
Due to lack of novelty in the characterisation, the
script written by Attorney turned script writer Barbara Curry seems
laidback. The plot being formulaic focusses on the plot graph rather
than establishing the characters and their motivation, thus making the
characters seem generically crafted and flimsy.
On the
performances front, the sultry Jennifer Lopez, still has the oomph
factor. She plays the "smart people do dumb things, I made a mistake"
act with the apt trepidation.
On the other hand, Ruz Guzman with
his well-chiselled physique, seems too grown-up to play a 20 year old.
He is a misfit in the role, but he executes the emotions of the
charismatic as well as sinister Noah with precision.
Ian Nelson
as Kevin is charming. Kristin Chenoweth as Vicky, Claire's colleague and
confidante along with John Corbett as Garrett, are functional as they
play second fiddle to the narration.
Given the low budget, the production values of the film are good.
Mildly entertaining, the film is worth a one-time watch.
