![]() But the fact that Lopez, who can be so good when she lets loose in an acting performance, is the one starring in it is the film’s biggest selling point. Yes, audiences might be ready to bask in The Boy Next Door’s sexiness and cheesiness and camp. The rise of franchises and brand names as the true stars of films certainly speaks to that, as does the depreciation in value of marquee talent like Will Smith, Tom Cruise, and the like. It’s rare these days for a movie star to be “bankable”-the draw that’s actually getting butts in theater seats and money spent on tickets. I suspect that you had no idea that either of those films existed. Perhaps you Just Could Not Wait to see The Back-up Plan. Lo film? Perhaps you were excited about What to Expect When You’re Expecting. When was the last time someone was actually excited about a J. I suspect the box office might even be higher, with a palpable sense of enthusiasm building for Lopez’s movie from people who seem to be craving all the campiness that The Boy Next Door delivers. Read that last sentence and then tell me with a straight face you’re going to see The Imitation Game this weekend instead.Ĭurrent industry predictions peg The Boy Next Door to open with just under $20 million this weekend-a more-than-solid debut for a film that Lopez, who is also a producer on The Boy Next Door, has called a “micro-budget” thriller made for just $4 million. The Boy Next Door is operatic in its silliness, unapologetic with its camp, shameless in its use of sex and violence, merciful in its brief runtime, and generous in its unobstructed footage of Ryan Guzman’s perfect butt. ![]() It should be entertaining.) And let me tell you: the audience of predominantly older women I saw The Boy Next Door with was having the time of their damned lives. Just as there is value in soaking in the artistic merits of whatever three-hour historical drama Harvey Weinstein is assaulting award season with, there is value in having fun at the movies. Rowling” that will have you standing in applause at the audacity of Lopez’s delivery of it.Īnd in stark contrast to the aggressive self-seriousness and bloated boringness of Oscar season, The Boy Next Door’s is timed perfectly as brilliant counterprogramming. The film is out of its mind, replete with jokes about Jennifer Lopez’s “cookies,” a sex scene so long and confusingly choreographed that I became both aroused and intensely curious while watching it, a hyper-violent final act rivaling the most demented of Final Destination sequences, Kristin Chenoweth with a sassy pixie cut doling out wry one-liners, and a line-reading of the words “J.K. Lopez-what he did for the street-racing franchise: defy expectations with a guilty pleasure that audiences eat up without a hint of guilt. The dialed-to-11, over-the-top nature of Boy Next Door hints that Cohen could do for the erotic thriller-and the career of Ms. The Boy Next Door is directed by Bob Cohen, who famously launched the Fast and the Furious franchise in 2001. But lately that threat’s been a little empty.Įnter this magical masterpiece of cheesy camp, The Boy Next Door. Lopez’s charisma and potential ensures she’ll always be considered that double-threat. She hasn’t had a leading role in a film since 2010’s critically maligned The Back-up Plan, and it’s been a full decade since she released Monster-in-Law, her last film to cross the $50 million mark at the box office. Her most recent album, A.K.A., was awful-with the exception of the cheeky (both literally and figuratively) “Booty”-and tanked in sales. But recent failures have indicated that her cultural omnipresence has started to supersede her actual cultural relevance. She’s worked steadily since then and is always in the spotlight with new albums, movies, and her time as a judge on American Idol. It’s been 15 years since she famously cemented her double-threat status as an actress and singer by being the first performer to have the number one film ( The Wedding Planner) and album ( J.
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