DVD Movie Review - Neighbors

Neighbors begins with the perfect premise that illustrates the reality of married life with children, but then sadly transforms into one long-winded joke about wangs.

STORY:

Mac Radner (Seth Rogen) and his wife, Kelly (Rose Byrne) are both swaying on the fence between a party life and actually becoming grown adults.  Helping lead the way into lame adulthood is their new baby girl that they just love to leave home alone, while ingesting mushrooms and getting baked.  Everything seems to be moving forward as planned until the new neighbors, a Fraternity led by rambunctious Teddy (Zac Efron), just can't stop dancing to very loud, obnoxious club music.  When Mac and Kelly realize their baby isn't going to get any sleep, they decide to get rid of the Fraternity that moved next door.  Efron loving, terrible parenting, boner jokes, airbag ejector seats, dildo Kung-Fu fighting, and the ugliest sex scene imaginable ensues.

"So what you're saying is they're like mini adults, except they crap all over themselves?"

"Exactly."

THOUGHTS:

The premise behind Neighbors—a new couple with baby tries to lead a normal, boring life, but the Frat next door is driving them crazy—really is the perfect comedy premise for couples that are in the exact same boat.  Everyone can relate to having a job they dislike or responsibilities that need to take precedence over getting drunk and having a good time.  But after the first fifteen minutes, the movie takes a wrong turn and you end up watching a comedy meant for high-schoolers and college pot heads. 

The problem is the line between Rogen's character (a new dad just looking to raise a healthy child), and Efron's character (a party animal that sees no reason in worrying about the future) start to blur, which in turn, also diminishes the conflict between the two.  It's one thing to have a young father and mother dream about the glory days and see it next door and become a little jealous.  But it's completely something else, having them actually leave their child home alone so they can go swallow a bag of magic mushrooms and hammer trays of Jello shots.  This plot line goes beyond silly humor and falls directly in the vicinity of absurd parenting.  How can parents be worried about their little girl sleeping or growing up healthy, when all they're doing is scarfing down drugs and raving?  And when the Fraternity pranks start ruining the Radner's lives, it's hard to sympathize, because they're bigger idiots than the college kids.

"Oh my God, it's like listening to screams from my deepest, darkest, nightmares."

"Yeah, maybe I should stay home and watch our daughter?"

"Why?  Nothing's more sacred than a mother's love." 

THE FUNNY:

There are truly funny moments floating around in Neighbors: new parents running and screaming down the halls of a hospital with their baby; awkward police calls about noise; parents stepping into illegal territory just to keep their child safe; and—no matter how many times you've seen this in trailers or advertisements—the airbag gag is certainly unique and hilarious.  But the problem is these scenes are few and far between the immature humor that riddles the rest of the movie.  Between pubic hair, drunken stupors, grown men sword fighting, and multiple scenes of guys holding their junk, the movie completely falls off the intelligent-comedy rails and plunges into the cliché-juvenile-wang-joke territory that you've seen a million times over.  To make matters worse, the jokes themselves overstay their welcome, creating dialogue that should've been funny, but easily becomes annoying instead.

"I can't take it anymore.  Maybe if we just left her in the park, the wolves could raise her."

"Wouldn't work.  I don't think there's enough wolves running around in the suburbs."

THE ACTING:

If you've seen any Seth Rogen comedies, ever, then you've already seen his character Mac Radner.  Rogen, sadly, has been playing himself for years, and after multiple versions of the same character just with a different name, everything begins to get a little old.  Luckily, Rose Byrne is there to add some actual acting, but even her character is a little uneven as she attempts to be a good mother but then turns around and parties all night long (And whose baby actually sleeps through the entire night allowing parents to go out and get bombed until dawn?).  Zac Efron plays the worried Teddy excellent, but the rambunctious Teddy, horribly.  He doesn't seem to be having any fun with the role.  The supposed "humorous" lines that he delivers are recited with the attitude of an office worker who just wants to get through the day and then go home and sleep.  Dave Franco plays Efron's buddy, Pete.  And just like Efron, Franco seems to be at home with the level-headed Pete, but when it comes to partying and attempting to be funny, everything falls apart.  Even Franco and Efron together don't have the buddy-comedy feel that's needed to make any scenes depicting their Fraternity life worth watching.  McLovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) pops up as part of the fraternity and remains more of a fixture throughout the film, while Andy Samberg and Lisa Kudrow show up for a few minutes, and of course, the free lunch.  The rest of the cast act like they're extras in a really bad MTV music video, peppered with more dildos and boners than the network would allow.

"As you can clearly see, your Honor, the person in the center of this photograph is the reason 

behind my clients' homicidal tendencies."

CONCLUSION:

On paper and in the trailers, Neighbors looks like the perfect adult comedy for couples and young parents.  But too many immature jokes that last way too long hinder what could have been a great comedy.  In addition, stale acting from most of the cast helps push Neighbors into the "Eh" movie category.  But the film isn't a complete loss.  It teaches two very valuable life lessons: one, never become friends with your neighbors because sooner or later, everyone will hate each other.  And two, don't mess with exhausted, aggravated parents.  They will kill you for peace and quiet.  So if you can't get enough Seth Rogen or penis jokes or maybe you just want to see Zac Efron with his shirt off, then this film is definitely for you.

2 1/2 out of 5 Stars (minus a star for cliché jokes & bad acting, and a ½ star for regurgitated Rogen)