"The Boy Next Door" is the story of a newly divorced high school teacher who gets romantically involved with a much younger man who lives next door to her and her son. Of course, there are consequences and they take a turn for the worse. Directed by Rob Cohen, the R-rated thriller stars Jennifer Lopez, Ryan Guzman, Kristin Chenoweth, John Corbett and Ian Nelson.
Should you watch it? Maybe it's best to first read what critics have to say.
US Weekly's Mara Reinstein's thoughts?
"It's all hilariously ridiculous, but bless J.Lo for trying her mightiest to sell it. If someone's going to bring sultriness to suburbia, it might as well be Jenny from the Block."
That's kinder than what SFGate's Thomas Lee had to say, bemoaning Lopez's decision to do the "inept, cliche-infested film."
"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," he added.
"The Boy Next Door is bad, but it isn't THAT bad," pointed out Jordan Hoffman from The Guardian, but he does criticize the movie for not only having not "much of a visual stamp" but for also feeling bland, rushed and cheap and slipping up on its Greek metaphors.
Joe Neumaier from the NY Daily News is also not a fan.
"Lopez emerges with most of her dignity intact from this shadowy, gutteral film, which includes screwdrivers in the head and cheeseball jolts. It's all lowest-common-denominator work for an actress whose appeal adds up to so much more" were his last words on the film.
At the other end of the spectrum, however, People.com is heaping praises at "The Boy Next Door" as the "ultimate guilty-pleasure film." The site even listed out reasons why people should spend a portion of their weekend with the movie, a lot of which had to do with how good Lopez and Guzman looked on the big screen.
The "Boy Next Door" opened in theaters Jan. 23. Aside from starring in the film, Lopez is also on-board as producer. The movie was made for just $4 million and was done being shot in 23 days.
