The Boy Next Door

Let´s go back into the VHS tape days, when i first watched a young Jennifer Lopez doing the lead role as Selena. the famous mexican pop star of the 90´s. You might remember she was killed by one of her closest friends. A tragic story, and Jennifer Lopez managed to capture the feeling of Selena, how she seemed to be both as an artist, and in her private life. Just a year later, in 1998, Lopez really shined in her next film Out Of Sight with George Clooney. It was actually surprisingly good, and gave her a chance to get bigger film roles. But that was just the start, her music career kicked off really well also, sellling millions of albums. Everything seemed to be going all the way for miss Lopez, and for a long time it did. She kept on releasing films, and Music albums, but the album sales dropped, while some of her films did not to as well as expected. This is something many actors experience, so it is not unusual. With more albums coming out, and still working as an actor, she kept on working hard to stay in the spotlight. She did surprise me with the very odd thriller The Cell, directed by Tarsem Singh ( the same director who directed Immortals ). This was a very strange look inside the mind of a serial killer, but i did like the concept. There was something unique about the film, and for that i recommend you see it. I personally liked her performance in the film Bordertown, based on the true story of the female homicides in Ciudad Juárez. This was exactly what she needed to do, step away from the romantic comedies, and make something different. With more romantic comedies coming out after this, it seemed like she was going to follow this path. Until i Heard the news in the end of 2014, she is coming out with a new thriller called The Boy Next Door. Not knowing much about the plot, i was curious to see if she finally found another great character since Bordertown. When i saw that director Rob Cohen was on board, i realised that this might actually work, if they have a good story in their hands. Is this the best Jennifer Lopez film in many years, or is this another release from her that will be forgotten, just like her album titles ?

Claire Peterson ( Jennifer Lopez ) is a devoted mother to her son Kevin ( Ian Nelson ), and is married to Garret Peterson ( John Corbett ). When Claire finds out Garret had an affair with his secretary, Claire want to seperate from Garreth. Heart broken, and trying to move on, she get all the support she needs from her best friend Vicky Lansling ( Kristin Chenoweth ). Vicky suggest that Claire should divorce Garret, something Claire needs to take some and think about. One day, Claire meet the new neighbours Mr. Sandborn ( Jack Wallace ) and his orphaned nephew Noah Sandborn ( Ryan Guzman ). Kevin begin to spend some time to Kevin, so he become closer to Claire´s family. For some reason, Claire begin to feel attracted to Kevin, even if he is much younger than her. One day, while Garret and Kevin go on a fishing trip, Claire spy on Kevin as he is taking a shower. Claire decide to go on a double date with her best friend Vicky, but it ends terrible. Suddenly she gets a phone call from Kevin, asking if she can come over and help him cook. What started innocent, ends with them both having sex. At first it seems like just an affair, but Claire begin to notice that Kevin may not be who she thinks he is. Just when she thought that the nightmare had begun, things are about to become even worse.

I should have listened to the bad reviews, but i choosed to watch this film anyway, trying to go in with an open mind. Well..........how bad can it be ? Does anyone of you remember a film called Basic Instict 2 ? The sequel to the 90´s classic with Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas ? If you have seen this sequel, you probably wanted to get electric shock treatment so you would forget all about this film. While watching The Boy Next Door, i am feeling exactly the same thing again. Holy shit, this is a bad film. The acting is so bad from almost all the actors, it feels like they did not even care about being in the film. They just wanted the paycheck, and probably to see Jennifer Lopez do a shower scene. The plot is terrible, in the sense that there is nothing to be said here. And we are supposed to feel sorry for Jennifer Lopez ? Hell no, the only one i feel sorry for is the audience who will feel ill after this film ends. And still the american audience made this a box office hit, what is wrong with you people ? Luckily this film did not screen in many countries in Europe, maybe some people realised that it should not get a premiere date, and go straight to dvd instead. I don´t hate Jennifer Lopez, she have done some good films in the past, but it was quite a while ago. Last time i saw her do a good film was in 2006, with the film called Bordertown with Martin Sheen. And before that ? Let me think.......The Cell, probably.  The problem with this film is that Lopez should not even be in here,  she can do better than a film like this.  Director Rob Cohen have been around for quite some time,  directing all kind of genre films.  One of my personal favourite films of him,  is Dragon - The Bruce Lee story. Since then his films have been on a roller coaster. Some good, some bad. And i think this have to be the worst film of his work.  The Boy Next Door is a pile of shit,  with nothing to give us in return. Oh wait, we do get one thing, lots of bad acting, and that is something we all love, right ? For your own safety, avoid The Boy Next Door. If Pat Robertson, from the 700 Club, would have been the director, we might have had a completely different film in our hands. I suggest we listen to Pat Robertson instead from now on, he seems to have more knowledge than The Boy Next Door delivers.

Rating: D