Neighbors

Effron really wants you to forget his high school days

New to the world of parenting Mac and Kelly Radner have just spent all of their money on a new house. The neighborhood is nice and quiet, ideal for raising their baby daughter; however, the responsibility of taking care of their baby is starting to make them feel old. On a seemingly normal day in their neighborhood they find that they are going to be getting some new neighbors, they soon realize that these new neighbors are a fraternity. Having gone through college and knowing that fraternities have a tendency to be loud they try to let the college boys know to "keep it down." The fraternity seems to be okay with this as long as the couple promises to tell them about any complaints and not the cops. One thing leads to another and it becomes clear to the couple that they need to get the police involved. After they do, an all out war breaks between the two houses, and it doesn't seem to have an end point that won't result in one of them moving.

I have a confession to make.... I love Seth Rogan movies. Their has only been one or two that I can think of that I didn't like ("The Guilt Trip" and "The Green Hornet"). So it came as no surprise that I loved this movie too. This movie is just flat out funny, filed with humor that ranges from awkward to grotesque it just shined in all the right places. I like a comedy that has an actual coherent story line. I like a comedy that tends to break the fourth wall from time to time. To me this is the "Adults vs. Fraternity" movie "Grown Ups 2" should have been. It also ends fairly nice, and gives the viewer not only a good time but a moral.

Since I don't want to spoil any of the gags for you, I'll just move onto the acting. Zac Effron plays the perfect dumb jerk, and it really surprised me that he had so much chemistry with Seth Rogan. If you are looking for a new character from Seth Rogan this probably isn't the movie for you. Seth Rogan is the same as always, but I do like the character that he always plays. It was nice to see Rose Byrne cut loose a little bit as opposed to her more uptight roles. She seemed to have had a history of being very hit and miss with me for a while, but I can at least put this movie in the hit column. I can say the same thing for Dave Franco's movie career, but this movie actually gave him one of his best roles. No one gets over shadowed, it seems like the entire cast was just on their A game. The cameos by random comedic actors and actresses were well placed and much appreciated. 

I know Seth Rogan is getting a little tired for most people these days, but for some reason he just has a direct line to my funny bone. I've heard many people criticize that he always plays the same character, which is true but at least he is reliable as that character. Other people like to criticize his laugh which I have never had a problem with (at the very least it is not Fran Drescher level of annoying). Zac Effron has been under scrutiny ever since he played in "High School Musical" and many of his other early roles, and movies like "That Awkward Moment" sure as hell didn't help him establish more of a career. This movie is just what he needed, audiences around the world need to see that he can play a more grown up character, that is able to make fun of himself. Dave Franco needed a hit after the "Warm Bodies" and "Now You See Me" fiascoes and this was perfect. It reminded me of his character in "21 Jump Street," but weirdly a more responsible version of that character. 

Final Verdict: See it in theaters I couldn't give this movie my highest honor because it was just shy of the perfect comedy, but it was still pretty awesome. Go see it if you can and I promise you will not be disappointed.