This is an enjoyable yet ultimately forgettable film. The "boy rescues cute girl from terrible life" plot has been done many times before, no doubt in many better ways. Emile Hirsch performs passably well with the material he is given, and the luscious Elisha Cuthbert provides plenty of eye candy that she could not show in 24. The rest of the characters are one-dimensional and barely worthy of mention. But the show belongs to Timothy Olyphant. Although he does not even appear until halfway through the film, his role makes the entire movie worth watching again. He screen presence is palpable as the ultra-cool bad boy that every man secretly wishes to be. Scruffy, chain-smoking, alternately funny, friendly then dangerous, he owns every scene in which he appears. Seeing this film makes one that much more anxious for the next season of JUSTIFIED to begin!
Review of The Girl Next Door
