???½
Whether you are in college, reminiscing about your fraternity days, or starting to dread becoming the uncool parent, “Neighbors” really does have something for everybody. The characters alone are enough to draw you in: Seth Rogen as the responsible parent and Zac Efron as the hot fraternity boy next door call for an intriguing pair.
“Neighbors” follows Rogen as Mac and Rose Byrne as Kelly Radner, new parents who move into a nice home in a quiet suburb. Everything seems perfect until a college frat moves in next door.
Enter Efron as Teddy, the president of the frat, and Dave Franco as Pete, the vice president. Mac and Kelly decide to play it cool by offering the frat marijuana in exchange for Teddy’s promise that they will keep the noise level down. Teddy befriends the couple, needing their trust to keep them from calling the cops.
On one fateful night, however, when the noise level will not be ceased, Mac and Kelly call the cops, breaking the pair’s mutual trust and initiating a war between the new parents and the raucous frat. Cue the endless charades between the foolishly hilarious Rogen and the eternally shirtless Efron as the couple does everything they can to destroy the brotherhood that the frat is built around.
Despite having some fantastic scenes – like the Byrne, Franco and a random blonde girl make out incident or the five different shots of Rogen and Byrne walking through the neon-lighted frat house in slow motion – the film did lack some continuity. While the couple’s interactions with Teddy were spot on, some of the scenes when the characters are alone lack chemistry and interest.
Rogen played his usual goofy self and managed to be charming enough to let us believe his relationship with the beautiful Aussie Byrne. The film showed a new side to Efron, one where he wasn’t the perfect heartthrob but instead the crude college kid with a GPA lower than the Career Fair personnel can fathom.
“Neighbors” is a fun movie worth your money, just make sure you don’t expect it to be anything more than it is– an R-rated comedy filled with cheap laughs fit for all.
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