New The Boy Next Door Movie Received Mostly Negative Reviews From Major Critics
Universal Pictures released their new drama/thriller flick, “The Boy Next Door” into theaters today, and the top,major movie critics have delivered their reviews. It turns out that most of them just didn’t take to it too well, giving it an overall 31 score out of a possible 100 across 27 reviews at the Metacritic.com site.
The movie stars: Kristin Chenoweth, John Corbett, Jennifer Lopez and Ryan Guzman. We’ve added blurbs from a couple of the critics, below.
Claudia Puig at USA Today, gave it a 63 score, stating: “Predictable and foolishly unsuspecting characters react in ways that make you want to shake them. But there’s an undeniable sense of silly fun in this erotic thriller.”
Leah Greenblatt from Entertainment Weekly, gave it a 58 grade. He said: “Boy’s premise reeks of stalker-movie mothballs, and it’s too timid to fully dive into the high camp it hints at. Instead, this cookie just crumbles.”
Peter Keough over at the Boston Globe, gave it a 50 grade, saying: ” It will also make them laugh. Intentionally or not, director Rob Cohen (“Alex Cross”) has put together the most hilarious camp classic since “White House Down” (2013).”
Nicolas Rapold over at The New York Times, gave it a 40 grade, stating: “Mr. Cohen, no stranger to delivering pulp product, employs visual clichés as if they were flash cards; no exposed thigh or made-you-jump reveal goes unexploited.”
Sheri Linden from The Hollywood Reporter, gave it a 40 score, saying: “It offers January moviegoers some guilty-pleasure thrills and laughs, while falling way short of its potential on both the dramatic and the camp fronts.”
Christy Lemire at RogerEbert.com, gave it a 38 grade, claiming: “The Boy Next Door has its share of so-bad-they’re-good moments – and details, and chunks of dialogue – but not nearly enough. Mostly, they’re just bad. And it had such potential too, starting with the casting.”
Michael Phillips from the Chicago Tribune, gave it a 38 score. He said: ” I wish The Boy Next Door were a different, zingier sort of mediocrity, but whenever it threatens to go the full Zalman King “Two Moon Junction” route, it pulls back and behaves itself and settles for a grindingly predictable series of escalations.”
Michael O’Sullivan at the Washington Post, gave it a 37 grade. He said: “The Boy Next Door plays best as unintentional comedy.”
Robert Abele from the Los Angeles Times, gave it a 30 grade. He stated: “Breathless, uninspired January junk that feels like the iffiest bits of a Lifetime movie and late-night cable schlock slapped together. (And not erotically.)”
Inkoo Kang at TheWrap, gave it a 30 score, saying: ” Neither good nor bad, nor campy nor scary enough to be in any way memorable, The Boy Next Door is a lot like our own neighbors, just there. You could make the effort to sneak a peek, but it probably wouldn’t be worth your while.”
Andrew Barker at Variety, gave it a 30 grade,saying: “The film’s initial formulaic competence gives way to outright preposterousness rather quickly, hinging on idiot-plot character motivations.”
Richard Roeper from the Chicago Sun-Times, gave it a 25 score, saying: “Everyone in The Boy Next Door has to behave like an idiot at least once or twice, just so the movie can keep going. It’s an act of mercy when it finally grinds to a halt.”
Thomas Lee at the San Francisco Chronicle, gave it a 25 grade. He said: “Why Lopez decided to do this inept, cliche-infested film is anyone’s guess. She may be an actress of limited range, but her work includes solid movies like “Selena” and “Out of Sight.” Unfortunately, Lopez’s resume now includes this stinker. And we’re all the dumber for it.”
Lou Lumenick over at the New York Post, gave it a 25 score, saying: ” Unintended laughs far, far outnumber intended thrills.” Joe Neumaier at the New York Daily News, gave it a 20 score. He said: “It’s Fatal Attraction 101.”
Lastly, Drew Taylor over at The Playlist, gave it the dreaded “0” score, claiming: “The entire movie feels like a warning for women of any age: if you act on your desires, you will be punished. And there seems to be no greater punishment than having to watch The Boy Next Door.”
Drew also said it was: ” A limp psychosexual thriller that takes a promisingly trashy conceit… and does absolutely nothing with it, and saddles it with wooden performances, poor staging, and a complete lack of conviction. It reaches a nearly operatic level of ineptitude.” Whoa! Stay tuned. Also, get your favorite Movie stuff, and more by Clicking Here.
