The Boy Next Door (2008)
A novelist moves to a small town to write her next novel. She seeks inspiration and as time goes by she gathers information about her neighbor, a young, wealthy man whom she observes, as well as photographs, from her window. She soon finds herself a suspect in a murder investigation due to suspicious circumstances involving her odd behavior and reclusive lifestyle. She must fight to demonstrate her innocence.
Watch Trailer
Cast
Similar titles
Reviews
Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
San Francisco novelist Sara Wylde (Dina Meyer) is having writer's block. She rents a lakehouse in the country and is taken with young Michael Ellory next door. There's the nosy house owner Marie, the bookstore couple, and the coffee house guy. Michael's father Edward is a rich and powerful man. Michael turns up dead after a date with the mayor's wife Nicole Warner. The police suspects Sara who had been spying on Michael.The guy is not really a boy. She's older than him but there is nothing scandalous. He looks like he's in his 20's and with no great charisma. I was actually quite relieved when he turns up dead. It could be an interesting murder mystery but the characters are not well-written. The cops are too dense. Sara is not that quick either. One would expect better from a mystery murder writer who thinks about police crime dramas all day long. Cory Monteith has a minor role. This is not that good.
I generously gave this 'film' a '2' because the acting was fair. The lead has to be a knockout and a mystery writer; so many women are successful today. NOT! And...they are often novelists. A person suspected of murder, especially one who is wealthy and drives a BMW, rents a lovely house in a small town, would hire a defense attorney ASAP. She wouldn't go around risking her beautiful persona and leering at much younger men. Is she just another cougar? Is this what middle-aged women do today? Is sex all they care about? I guess that's the modern woman. All of us sensitive men are just 'love meat,' a quote from a Neil Diamond concert before he sang 'Play Me.' And, he was serious. Then, we have the obligatory black in the film, a car dealer. Can we ever have a film or TV ad without a black person? Blacks are only 12% of the U.S. population but they comprise about 90% of the commercials and movie roles. The lead actress, Dina Meyer, is very attractive, but she belongs in porn films on the internet. In fact, there is a synopsis on Time Warner that states 'nudity.' I never saw any nudity, but I DID miss the first 19 minutes of the film. Why did I bother watching the entire film? I was waiting for Dina to undress and get naked, like the synopsis read. Otherwise, it had no redeeming social value.
Found the movie to be very satisfactory. I personally found Dina Meyer to be very good actress and I have never seen her before. I actually rented the movie because of Cory Monteith. The movie is basically about a novelist that moves to a small town to find inspiration for her next book. Dina Meyer's character had just been divorced and needed some time to concentrate on her book only. Her character gets inspiration for her books by taking pictures of every day life. Her next door neighbor turns out to be a billionaires son and ends up getting murdered. Dina Meyer's character is framed for the murder because she was the next door neighbor and was always taking pictures of him for her research. In the long and skinny of it all Dina Meyer's character has to figure out who is framing her for the murder. The ending isn't exactly what you would expect but also not the worst ending either. This is definitely a movie for you hopeless romantics and crime solving fans.
Watch Dina Meyer walk.Watch Dina Meyer work on her laptop.Watch Dina Meyer talk on the phone.Watch Dina Meyer driving.Watch Dina Meyer crossing the street.Watch Dina Meyer sneaking into a house.Watch Dina Meyer talking to police officer.Watch Dina Meyer look like Michelle Pfeiffer.Watching Dina Meyer is basically what this film is. It had such a low budget that the only thing you see is a solo Dina Meyer doing mundane things. It's basically a one woman show.On one hand, it's the pits but on the other hand, if you're a fan of Dina Meyer you'll LOVE this film. It actually sorta fascinating on how the writers and director thought up this film vis a vis the film's budget. It sorta works as a minimalistic experience.