It must be every school boy's dream. Obsessed with thinking about women, you're studying, as Matthew Kidman (Emile Hirsch) is one day, when you look out of the window and see a young woman - Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert) - in the house next door, stripping off. She has a figure to die for and you think she kind of likes the fact that you're watching.

Could it get any better? In this case, yes and no. When Danielle comes round to confront her "peeping tom," you discover that she's a rising porn star.

Matthew's infatuation and growing friendship with his wild 'n' wonderful neighbour is the envy of his peers, but throwing a spanner in the works is Danielle's pimp (Timothy Olyphant), who, not surprisingly, proves to be a major stumbling block in their relationship. Matthew would be the coolest dude in high school if he could persuade Danielle out of her ogligations to the adult entertainment industry, but that's easier said than done.

Luke Greenfield succeeds in coming up with a teen comedy that sails close to the wind, but gets away with it, since the characters are perfectly believable. We don't, you may be relieved to hear, see much of Danielle's day job and the film is fun in a gawky sort of a way. After a while, you want this romance between two people from different sides of the tracks to succeed.

Ultimately, The Girl Next Door is reasonable fare, even if it is going down the same track as Risky Business.