Jennifer Lopez's 'The Boy Next Door' Fails On All Levels
Maybe critics spoke too soon when they effectively declared Johnny Depp's Mortdecai as the worst movie of 2015 - already. Paramount is throwing another iron into the furnace of January offloads with The Boy Next Door - a thriller starring the R&B superstar Jennifer Lopez in her first acting role since Parker in 2013.
It's all rather formulaic fare and stars Lopez as a high school teacher who, in the midst of a divorce, has a one night stand with a younger neigbor, who goes on to develop a dangerous obsession with her.
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Needless to say: it's awful.
"Isn't even approachable as junk food, failing to turn flatlining material into deliciously sinful escapism. And here I thought Cohen couldn't get any worse than 2012's "Alex Cross." I stand corrected," said Brian Orndorf of Blu-ray.com.
"Rob Cohen's The Boy Next Door flips the gender switch on Fatal Attraction and calls it a day," said Ed Gonzalez of Slant magazine.
"Despite a sidelong glance at Guzman's behind, the ass-ploitative nature of 'The Boy Next Door' mostly focuses on Lopez herself, a decision that robs the film of the symbiosis of fear and attraction that makes the erotic thriller such escapist fun," wrote Inkoo Kang of The Wrap.
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"The film's initial formulaic competence gives way to outright preposterousness rather quickly, hinging on idiot-plot character motivations, "It was only a cat!" jump scares and computer files that may as well be labeled 'Evil Schemes, 2012-2014'" said Andrew Barker of Variety.
It seems the only real advantage of The Boy Next Door is that the tabloids have a little more fodder to fill their column inches, given Lopez is now apparently dating her young co-star Ryan Guzman. How ironic.
The Boy Next Door hits theaters in the U.S on Friday (January 23, 2014).
Watch the trailer for 'The Boy Next Door':
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