Review of Neighbors (2014) by Matthew D — 22 Nov 2014

Seth Rogen's great. Dave Franco's great. Rose Byrne is gorgeous and proved her comedic edge with Bridesmaids. And Zac Efron? The perfect casting choice to place against type. That's why it's so disappointing that this move just isn't very funny.

As the story begins, Mac (Rogen) and Kelly (Byrne) are a middle-aged couple with a new baby. They're hanging on to whatever's left of their youth, wanting to go out and party just like the old days. Then a college fraternity moves in next door with the charismatic Teddy (Efrton) taking charge, his best friend Pete (Franco) by his side.

There's a nice parallel between the two groups as they're generally like-minded, except for about 15 years separating them. The expectations for each other and how they perceive that at their age is nice, but only rarely touched upon. Of course, it's not long until they're at odds with each other and the antics begin to get each group to back off.

Here's the thing; as it's been said, no one sets out to make a bad movie and it's not that the premise is bad at all (break down some of your favorite comedies in a sentence or two and they sound just as silly). It's just that it's not terribly funny. Sometimes the humor feels forced. Sometimes uninspired. A lot of the time, way too obvious. That's a fuckin' shame because we've seen so much better from everyone involved. I've been waiting for Dave Franco to get his moment ever since that last season of Scrubs, man (although he was pretty good in 21 Jump Street)! This flick never settles on a tone, sometimes going for a gross out set piece and other times sticking with improvisational rants ripped straight from an Apatow flick. Every now and again the filmmakers want to relay the feeling of being in a frat house party, spending way too much time quick cutting strangers drinking, doing drugs and the like. I'm here for the laughs guys, not to watch topless chicks making out with each other. Wait . . . did I just fucking say that???

There are moments sprinkled throughout that I appreciated (the bro-off between Efron and Franco was just delightful) but things rarely go beyond a smile, and the plot just kind meanders along, stringing together a set of improvs and set-pieces that feel like they've been ripped out of a bad movie. Oh wait.