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The Main Characters
--Matthew Kidman (Emile Hirsch) is a loser type of kid who’s fortunes seem to take a turn for the better when a gorgeous girl moves in next door to him and is actually interested in him.
--Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert) is Matthew’s new neighbor. The two hit it off right away and things go well until he finds out about her past, that she used to be a porn star.
--Kelly (Timothy Olyphant) is Danielle’s rather odd manager of sorts. He is pretty conniving and will stop at nothing to get Danielle back into his porno stable and stop Matthew from convincing her otherwise.
--Eli & Klitz (Chris Marquette & Paul Dano) are Matthew’s weird friends. Eli is a director of sorts and Klitz is just your random glasses wearing dork.
The Setting
Takes place in California, though they never specified where in CA I believe.
The Plot
Matthew is about to graduate with absolutely nothing memorable about his 4 years there. Things seem to be on a one way street to perpetual loserdom when a gorgeous woman moves in next door to him. They hit it off right away and she turns him from a by the books type of guy to a spontaneous fun loving person. Matthew gets introduced to Danielle’s quirky friend, Kelly. Of course, things take a turn for the worse in their relationship when Matthew finds out she was a former porn star. She takes off with Kelly, who was revealed as her manager, to Las Vegas to a porn star convention. Of course, Matthew follows to try to get her back. He succeeds, but has to deal with a vengeful Kelly chasing after him trying to get his money and his girl back. Of course, Matthew enlists the help of Danielle, her porn star friends and his good friends Eli and Klitz to help him out.
My Review
This movie to me was like a tale of two stories. The first half of the movie was really enjoyable and fun. The interaction between Danielle and Matthew and how Matthew turns from a loser to a pretty cool guy. The first 45 minutes were funny, enjoyable and in my opinion was heading towards a two-thumbs up. Then something happens. After Matthew gets Danielle back from Kelly in Las Vegas, the movie seemed to take forever to get to the end. It seemed like the director had 3 or 4 ideas on how to end the movie and couldn’t decide, so he decided to use all four in no particular order. The ending seemed too drawn out and contrived and really veered from the vibe of the first half of the film. Shave a few minutes off and a worthless sub plot (Matthew bringing a Cambodian to the US) and the film would’ve been a lot better. The character development left a bit to be desired too. The main character is Danielle, the movie is named after her, and yet we leave the film knowing almost nothing about her. The director should’ve added more about her in. The acting was pretty decent. Nothing really horrible or great. I thought Olyphant did a great job as Kelly and for some reason reminded me a lot of a cross between Keith Richards and Billy Idol.
Overall, it was meant to be a new comedy for teenagers. It did have some humor, but after the first half or so, the movie takes a huge turn for the worse. Good for a few laughs in the beginning, but by the end you’ll be wondering what took so long for it to finish.
Overall Rating
*
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