Neighbors

My Grade:  B-

Nicholas Stoller, as a director, has brought us the greatest, R-rated rom com of all time (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), a very solid follow up to that rom com (Get Him To The Greek), a reasonably well-received comedy that I haven’t seen (The Five-Year Engagement), and a TV movie that I’ve never heard of. That’s a pretty decent track record for the director and, now, he has brought us the raunchy tale of a young family living next to a frat house. It’s simply called Neighbors and, contrary to what you might think, there’s more to it than just raunchy comedy.

Seth Rogen actually plays a grown man with a job, wife, and kid. It’s against type for him, but his usual type (underemployed, stoner, man-child) is played by a younger generation of actors who do it better. Zac Efron is the fearless leader of the frat and he’s hysterical. I’ve never been a fan of his but it seems that he was born to play this role. He even proves that he may make a pretty scary villain in a film one day. I am a fan, however, of Dave Franco who plays Efron’s second-in-command. Unfortunately, I didn’t like him as much in Neighbors as I did in 21 Jump Street. He just seems uncomfortable in most of the film but his character offers hope for these keg-guzzling frat boys because he had ambitions beyond college. Then there’s Christopher Mintz-Plasse who will forever be “McLovin” to anyone who has seen Superbad. I like him (especially after he rocked the house in Kick Ass 2), but he barely says anything in this film. I wanted more of him. To get back to Rogen, he is still hilarious in this film and his chemistry with Rose Byrne (his wife) is outstanding. They make comedic gold together which is not something I would have expected.

Apart from the acting, the story is outrageous and unbelievable. It works, to an extent, because it’s a comedy and comedies can pull off “over-the-top,” but it is too much at times. It does, however, play on a theme that will hit home to a lot of young adults. The film is all about that transition period from the rebellious, immature party days of college into responsible adulthood in which you have to hold down a job and possibly provide for a family. That transition period is a tough, confusing time for some people because of the belief that “adulthood” is stuffy and boring. While I like that there is some depth to the film, it does get a little in-your-face with this message. I would prefer it to be a bit more subtle so that we can glean the message on our own.

Overall, Neighbors is hilarious, albeit a bit too over the top and unbelievable. Rogen and Efron have great chemistry as do Rogen and Byrne which makes for a fun movie-going experience. And it’s great that it’s about something under the surface, but it could be a bit more sneaky about pushing it’s themes. Ultimately, this film proves that I am quickly becoming a Nicholas Stoller fan. I can’t wait to see what he does next!