"Neighbors" Review

Neighbors

3 out of 5 stars

Rated R

A lot of crude, sex related humor

Brief sex scenes

Gags involving sex toys

Strong language with lots of f-words

At least one scene of topless female nudity

With a funny premise and great performances by Zac Efron and Seth Rogen, "Neighbors" is an enjoyable film to watch.

Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly Radner (Rose Byrne) have just had a baby when a group of fraternity boys moves next door. Worried that the fraternity is going to be too loud for their baby to stay asleep, the couple goes over and asks that the boys keep the noise level down. The fraternity's president, Teddy Sanders (Zac Efron) agrees that if the music is too loud, the couple is welcome to tell him so he can accommodate.

At first, this works, and Teddy even invites the couple in to party with them. However, the next time the music is too loud, the Radners call the cops on the fraternity after being unable to reach Teddy by phone. This starts a string of events in which the couple and the fraternity go back and forth fighting each other.

What works about this film is the set up of the Radners. They are a couple who want to live their lives, and it is apparent that they are transitioning from their younger years of partying. When the fraternity moves in next to them, they do not want to appear as one of those old couples that are constantly complaining about the noise level. However, they have a baby who needs sleep. In one funny scene, they try to figure out how they will tell the boys to keep the noise level down while keeping a "cool" appearance.

The film is perfectly casted, especially with Zac Efron and Seth Rogen. Both actors seem to be at the same stage in life as their characters. Rogen pulls it off as a pot-smoking, party animal who is transitioning into responsible adulthood. While I am not a huge fan of Zac Efron, he is perfect for this role. I always thought of him as a guy who has only gotten as far as he has on good looks. That is pretty much how he is in this film.

Another good performances is Lisa Kudrow as the dean of the fraternity's college. This is the only thing I have seen her in since “Friends,” and her character is one of my favorite things about this film.   Her character is more concerned about how the fraternity makes the college look than anything else, and this makes for some funny moments.

A lot of the gags involve the characters making each other miserable. As is expected, some of it is funny, and some of it falls short. Being a rated R comedy, a lot of it is gross-out humor involving sex toys, jokes about genitalia and one disgusting scene involving a woman’s breasts. Like most films in this genre, sometimes the crude jokes are funny, but sometimes they are just there because they can be.

The narrative is a little sloppy at times. Certain plot points are filler. For example (this might be a spoiler, so if you are concerned, skip this paragraph), the Radner couple gets in a fight and splits up, but within two or three scenes, they get back together. This is not even the ending scene. It is an unnecessary plot point that is only there to fill the movie's run time of just 96 minutes.

The story plays out like a sports game. First the couple is on offense, then the fraternity, then the couple. Though this does not make the film horrible, it is not a very creative way to tell the story. It feels like the writers had an idea for the premise and had to fight to keep it going.

Though there is good set up for the couple, there is a theme this movie tries to convey through a change in the Radners' mindset at the end. They seem to have a different view from the beginning, but it is not explicit at the start, which makes the ending less powerful than it could have been.

Rated R comedies are not my favorite movies. However, for those who like them, I would recommend this movie. It is not something that needs to be seen in theatres, but it is enjoyable.

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