Redbox Review: The Boy Next Door

With Redbox Review it is my hope to answer a simple question, to wit: having decided not to see a particular movie in the theater, is it worth the $1.59 to rent that movie from your local Redbox? 

Watching the Jennifer Lopez vehicle The Boy Next Door, I am reminded of a line from Othello, delivered in the immediate aftermath of Othello’s murder of his wife in a state of demented jealousy. Upon realizing that he has been Iago’s dupe, he says to the assembled company “when you shall these unlucky deeds relate, speak of me as I am…one that loved not wisely but too well.”

This is an extremely generous interpretation of what has happened. Even in the harsh light of his realization, Othello is not capable of conceiving of himself as a monster. He instead resorts to language that violent spouses have, presumably, used since the invention of the institution: I just love you too much not to hurt you.

Noah, the villain of the Rob Cohen directed Jennifer Lopez vehicle The Boy Next Door, relies on a similar kind of rhetoric. Fashioning himself a modern Achilles, he sets as his task the “liberation” of Claire Peterson (played by Lopez) from life with her adulterous husband (played by John Corbett). That he is willing to commit atrocities in the service of this goal is, in his mind, merely the product of his own unfailing resolve. Even in the climactic struggle, speaking of his horrific actions he rationalizes by saying “that’s what heroes do!” There is probably some measure of tragedy in a smart, insightful, physically perfect young man (Guzman is so sculpted his abs pop from nearly 80 feet away) descending into the depths of dangerous obsession. This is as generous a reading of the film as I am capable of making.

I feel the need to be generous because it amazes me that professionals made this film. What does it say for a picture that John Corbett, whose career has been defined by portraying ineffectual, put upon blandness, is dominating scenes like Daniel Day-Lewis telling Paul Dano that he drank his milkshake? What does it say for the script that the few moments when characters speak natural sounding lines stand out from the contrived, expositional mishegas that makes up the lion’s share of what is spoken? How can one possibly appreciate directorial flourishes like sudden and radical canting of angles to illustrate Noah’s emotional and mental descent? Does one even need to mention the score?

And yet…there is something fun in the madness. I laughed out loud more than once. Does it matter if those laughs were intentional or not? And there were moments when my wife actually made audible cries of surprise, and one moment when we both looked at one another slack-jawed, as if to say “DID WE REALLY JUST SEE THAT?!?” This film is no longer in the theater. It no longer requires a $20 investment. You’ll run the risk of someone seeing you rent it from the Redbox, but there are ways to minimize that.

Rating: Worth the $1.59