Neighbors (2014) review

I’m finding that the quality of most comedies these days tends to vary year in and year out. 2012 was one of the better years for comedies with films like ‘Ted’ and ’21 Jump Street’. 2013, on the other hand, was probably one of the worst years for comedies… ever. And I mean it; a lot of comedies last year really stunk, like ‘Movie 43’ or ‘Grown Ups 2’. That year was so bad that I only remembered one or two ‘good’ comedies and I listed one, ‘The World’s End’, as one of my Top 12 favorite films of the year (partially out of pity for having to be a part of such a crappy year for the genre). But overall this year is looking much better for the genre, at least when it comes to the summer’s lineup of comedies. Later this summer, we’re getting ‘A Million Ways to Die in the West’ and ’22 Jump Street’ but the summer comedy season does get off to a pretty good start with ‘Neighbors’, the latest film from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the duo behind last year’s surprise hit ‘This is the End’ (the other ‘good’ comedy of 2013). This time around, they team up with Nicholas Stoller, director of ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’ and writer for the recent ‘Muppet’ movies, for a really fun comedy that will also be very pleasing to anyone who’s in a fraternity and I can verify that having seen it with my friend Matt, who is in a fraternity; Sigma Chi’s University of Rhode Island chapter, to be exact.

Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly (Rose Byrne) Radner are a couple with a newborn girl who look to maintain their old ‘crazy’ lifestyle but continuously find trouble trying to do so because of their new ‘parent’ statuses. One day, they find that a fraternity from the local university, Delta Psi, have moved in next door and at first, they seem to bond with the frat and their leader Teddy Sanders (Zac Efron)… but that doesn’t last very long. Realizing the troubles that could come from their parties, Mac and Kelly initially ask Teddy and the frat that they ‘keep it down’, which they agree to do but ask that, in return, they come to them first and ask and not call the police. But one night, when they are unable to get in contact with Teddy, Mac and Kelly do end up calling the cops, though while they intend to be anonymous, they do end up getting caught in the act. This ends up resulting in a prank war between the two ‘parties’ as both try to get back at one another with hilarious results.

What’s really interesting about this film is that while it is focused on what can pretty much be called a ‘turf war’ between the Radners and Delta Psi, there’s really no definable ‘villain’ in this film. As the main characters, Mac and Kelly are a really likable couple but at the same time, the movie doesn’t paint their ‘enemies’, Delta Psi, as a bunch of despicable people. You see that Teddy is driven to become a part of Delta Psi history, which is a pretty respectable goal. Not only that, but you can really sense the strong connections that he has with his ‘brothers’, especially the frat’s Vice President, Pete (Dave Franco). As Matt pointed out, this film really does a great job at portraying the relationship between frat brothers, who will stick by each other no matter what even though they do sometimes fight. And that, to me, is why this movie works really well. It’s just a fun little prank war or ‘Family vs. Frat’ as is advertised on the poster and the movie never really feels ‘mean-spirited’. After all, if this film did portray the members of the frat as incredibly unlikable people, then that would just be a bad representation of the Greek community in general and I can tell that this wasn’t the filmmakers’ goal.

And as a comedy, it’s a really funny one and the laughs are pretty consistent throughout. Plus, at just 96 minutes, you never get bored and the film never feels like its dragged out (which, from what I’m hearing, was the main problem with Stoller’s last film ‘The Five Year Engagement’). Even better is the fact that the trailers actually don’t give away all of the jokes in the film, which is a problem that has plagued comedy films in recent years. But of course, a great comedy wouldn’t work without a great cast, and this film’s cast is no exception. Rogen and Byrne have great chemistry (Byrne in particular is a standout; she has great comic timing just as much as Rogen and Efron do and it’s clear that she really shines when it comes to comedic roles), Rogen and Efron have a great ‘back and forth’ camaraderie, and the entire group of Delta Psi, particularly Efron and Franco, really sell their ‘brotherhood’. Like Byrne, Franco is also one of the big standouts in this, particularly during the scene where the frat is hosting a ‘Robert De Niro’ party and he’s the ‘Meet the Fockers’ De Niro (‘You call the cops, you violate the circle of trust, Focker!’)

So, overall, ‘Neighbors’ serves as a very nice start to this year’s summer comedies. Not only is it full of laughs and solidly paced, but it’s also just a fun little movie that’s not really mean-spirited in any way. After all, it could’ve been a lot more mean-spirited had it not portrayed the group of Delta Psi in a fairly positive way. Sure, Rogen and Byrne’s character are the main protagonists, but you can still sympathize with the frat because they have an admirable goal; to become Delta Psi legends. Plus, this is a really nice representation of the ‘brotherhood’ that occurs amongst members of a fraternity. Now, I can’t fully vouch for that seeing how I am not in a fraternity (at least at the time that I’m writing this) but having seen it with someone who is in a fraternity, we both agree that this does do a good job representing fraternities in general. Because of that, ‘Neighbors’ is a film that I do recommend and the first great comedy of the year and I think it’s safe to say that this film is ‘frat approved’.

Rating: 4/5