Perhaps only Seth Rogen could grow up on camera with his most immature comedy to date. Neighbors stars Rogen and Rose Byrne as new parents who have yet to accept their responsibilities, but who find themselves forced to defend their only recently mature lifestyles when a fraternity moves next door. Their initial urge to be accepted by the hot young studs – led by Zac Efron, Dave Franco and Christopher Mintz-Plasse – eventually succumbs to their need to get a good night’s sleep, leading to a neighborhood feud that escalates rapidly.
A little too rapidly, methinks, or at least a little too far. Conventional sabotage like plumbing fiascos and lewd topiary designs eventually give way to the sort of insidious manipulations you would expect from a Neil Labute play, and finally to an outburst of violence that director Nicholas Stoller plays for laughs, but which errs too far on the side of mean-spiritedness. Factor in Rogen and Byrne’s repeated, disturbing tendency to leave their baby unattended for hours while they eat bowls of magic mushrooms and you have a film that claims to be about growing up but more actively celebrates selfishness and irresponsibility.
Exclusive Interview: Seth Rogen reveals that he does not condone abandoning babies in real life.
Fortunately, Neighbors is funny enough to make up for its lapses in judgment. Rogen and Byrne make a fine comedy duo, with Rogen doing his usual schtick and Byrne impressively holding her own as a comic dynamo barely held in check by matriarchal necessity, and Zac Efron and Dave Franco form an impressively sympathetic pair of bros who struggle to balance their urge to party with an increasing need to face the realities of life outside of college. The agreeable cast and a series of memorable comic set pieces – particularly a Robert De Niro-themed party that features one impressive impersonation after another – makes Neighbors likable enough to overlook the fact that in real life you might very well hate everyone in it.
[Editor’s Note: This review was originally published in a CraveOnline SXSW 2014 Recap. The author’s opinions have not changed.]
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast and The Blue Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
