Blumhouse Production's The boy next door (2015) with Jennifer Lopez, which went on to gross five times it's budget. A woman called Claire (Jennifer Lopez) , High school teacher , is separated from her unfaithful husband (John Corbett) . She's is on the verge of divorcing her husband Garrett after he was caught cheating with his secretary. While Claire's best friend Vicky Lansing (Kristin Chenoweth) stands by her and urges her to sign the divorce papers immediately and leave Garrett for good. She then falls for a younger man , the handsome, charming teenager named Noah (Ryan Guzman) who has moved in next door. She kicks him out and it causes a rift between both of them and their son Kevin (Ian Nelson). But Noah spends much of the time hanging out with Claire's son. One night, Claire gives in to temptation and lets Noah seduce her, but things go wrong when she attempts to end the relationship . Then their torrid affair soon takes a dangerous turn resulting in violent happenings. A moment she couldn't resist, an obsession he can't control !. Her mistake !. His obsession !.
This is a passable , manipulative and disturbing thriller with intrigue , suspense , twists , turns and the build-up tension is developed step by step . The plot is well-known and ordinary , as a neglected wife by her adulterous husband and left feeling particularly vulnerable as her marriage crumbles, as the lonely teacher has an affair with a younger neighbor that turns terrifying as his fiery lust morphs into perilous obsession . Exploring timeless themes of marriage and infidelity through the lens of modern attitudes toward strong women, personality disorders and coercive control . It results to be a deep-dive reimagining of the classic 80's thriller, ¨Fatal Attraction¨ by Adrian Lyne , equally dealing with one-night stand leads to terror as a main role continue to pursue the realtionship . This ¨The Boy Next Door¨ is an acceptable but no original suspense thriller , beautifully photographed by cameraman David McFarland and set to a successful soundtrack from Nathan Barr and Randy Edelman. Unfortunately, this already says everything positive, specially with films that want to surprise the viewer with their punchline, naturally it weighs particularly negatively if you already suspect the resolution at the end of the first act at the latest . The final part is at least a little more exciting , but eventually fails , due to the weak resolution, which had already been hinted at for an hour, as well as the stolen elements of other psychokiller films. Stars Jennifer Lopez who gives a so-so acting as the newly separated high-school teacher Claire Peterson , while Ryan Guzman is fine as the deranged and unsettling teen on the verge of going crazy . Being accompanied by a good support cast , such as : John Corbett , Ian Nelson, Kristin Chenoweth, Jack Wallace and Hill Harper of CSY New York .
The motion picture was regular but professionally directed by Rob Cohen who often directs high-energy action films, such as : Daylight 1996), The Fast and the Furious (2001), xXx (2002), or Stealth (2005) . He went on to produce and direct some of the most iconic films and television series of the 1980's, including Miami Vice (1984), Witches of Eastwick (1987), Ironweed (1987) and The Wiz (1978) . From 1990 onward, Cohen moved into directing full time. Much success followed with early 90's hits such as Dragon, Bruce Lee life (1993), Dragonheart (1996), Daylight (1996) and the Golden Globe award winning film The Rat pack (1998 ). At 52, Cohen had become a hit action director of youth films, directing the 2001 blockbuster, The Fast and the Furious. With this enormous hit , he partnered up with Vin Diesel again the following year to direct yet another box office hit, xXx (2002). Cohen directed the third installed of The mummy : the tomb of the emperator Dragon in 2008, grossing $405million world-wide. ¨The boy next door¨ rating : 5/10 . Mediocre but passable . The flick will appeal to Jennifer Lopez fans.
