Boy Next Door, The : Movie Review


Boy Next Door, The (2015) - Movie Poster1987's "Fatal Attraction," 1996's "Fear," and a whole lineage of similarly plotted "...From Hell" thrillers welcome a new descendant with "The Boy Next Door," producer Jason Blum's latest micro-budget effort from genre-centric Blumhouse Productions. While director Rob Cohen (2012's "Alex Cross") ensures this is a technically slick affair, he and screenwriter Barbara Curry disappoint with their just-enough approach to a hackneyed, cliché-heavy plot. Every time it looks like the picture might be branching out, daring to move in an unexpected direction or delve deeper into the characters' psyches and the agonizing situations they've found themselves in, it instead takes the safe route into surface-ready convention.

Recently separated from unfaithful husband Garrett (John Corbett), high school English teacher Claire Peterson (Jennifer Lopez) has begun to take the first steps toward moving on from her shattered marriage. When her hunky new neighbor, 19-year-old Noah Sandborn (Ryan Guzman), comes to stay with his ailing uncle, she is happy to see her teenage son, Kevin (Ian Nelson), meet a new friend. Noah is handy around the house and a lover of the classic poetry she teaches. He seems like an upstanding young man and is mature beyond his years, which probably makes it easier for her to be seduced by him. It is a one-night indiscretion Claire immediately regrets, but Noah lets it be known that he's not about to let her go. Before she knows it, everything she holds dear—her son, her profession, her entire life—is put into dire jeopardy.


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Author : Dustin Putman, TheFilmFile.com.