Nothing makes a guy feel more ancient than seeing “Seth Rogen” as the old guy in a movie. Paul Newman can be the old guy, Harrison Ford can be the old guy, Seth Rogen is a child…. I’m so old.
——-
“Neighbors” is the latest Raunch com to hit theaters this time featuring Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne as new parents whose lives are invaded when a fraternity buys the house next door. Zac Efron plays the lead of the party crew as a war between them escalates. Laughs follow as each tries to one up the other while at the same time dealing with their own sense of what it means to truly grow up. Which apparently mostly involves flashing lights, loud music, and consuming a whole lot of foreign substances. But amidst all the rated R shenanigans and psychological warfare, does this comedy deliver many laughs? Well sure.
——-
Look, Rogen is a funny dude, and although I felt like Rose Byrne never quite matched his sense of humor, the two of them worked well together as frazzled new parents just trying to keep life together. But honestly, what really made the movie hum along was Mr. Zachary Efron. Efron’s take on this frat boy leader was not only often hilarious but also delivered some of the best true emotion from the movie as well. Let’s just call him the best thing. I mean, I don’t want to make it sound like “Neighbors” belongs in the award winning drama section of Netflix or anything but some of the moments between him and his VP (played by James Franco’s kid brother Dave) were genuinely touching. And really, over all, there is a pretty sweet metaphor about what it means to face adulthood from both sides, almost as if Rogen and Efron were two sides of the maturing male psyche fighting it out for dominance. I also loved the way the movie used current pop culture references, prioritizing the humor of the specific allusion over the chance that much of the audience might not catch it.
——–
Of course that can also be a downfall as it lowers the percentage of humor that lands with the entire audience. In fact, for me, I’d say about 70 percent of the funny stuff worked, with the material that missed me being some of the wildly over the top situations and the gross out humor. Now, some others may find that stuff hilarious but miss out on the direct reference humor or subtle irony humor. And others may be so lucky to simply connect to all of it. My point is, with that scattershot approach it can make the movie feel a bit disjointed at times even if you know you are likely only a few moments away from another big laugh.
——–
Overall, Neighbors is a raunchy, broad comedy that shoots for big laughs and occasionally succeeds. Even though it is wildly unrealistic and over the top, Efron’s charm and performance and a surprisingly touching metaphor are just enough to keep it steady with a B-
——–
Thanks for checking out this Your Movie Friend review, stay tuned for this review’s “Best Ever” challenge here in bit but first, I’m going to put up some stuff you can click over in this area. If you’d like to subscribe, which I would much appreciate, you can do so by clicking the big gray subscribe button. Want to see more? I also have reviews out this week of the Christian comedy “Mom’s Night Out”, and the new animated Oz movie as well. You can also Click the logo up here to go to the all new yourmoviefriend.com where you can search by title for reviews. And finally this review’s “Best Ever” Challenge, where you name the best movie ever in a particular category and also try to identify my choice. What is the “the best fraternity or sorority movie ever”. I think this has a pretty clear number one and it’s another name for a barn.. or a kennel… or a zoo… I know, I know, too easy. Anyhow, Drop your own answer and a guess at mine in the comments and first person to guess mine gets a point! Thanks and please subscribe!