Neighbors (2014)

Film: Neighbors (2014)
Stars: Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Rose Byrne, Dave Franco, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Director: Nicholas Stoller
Oscar History: Not a chance
Snap Judgment Ranking: 4/5 stars

All right, before I get into this movie, I want to write about a public service announcement for anyone that is late to a movie theater.  I have written about this before, but it is NEVER okay to ask someone to move at a movie theater if you are coming in late.  This also goes for a plane or a train or pretty much every single instance in real-life.  I will say that this didn't happen to me (it happened to the people sitting behind me), but it has happened to me, and if you want to sit together at a movie theater, get there early and find four seats together.  It's very simple.  Don't make the people who are sitting in their spots (in the cushy best spot in the theater where the metal bar is there to put up your feet, my favorite spot which I didn't get because I also was coming to the theater relatively late) get up and get worse seats because you came late.  It's unbelievably rude, particularly when the entire front section (the section no one really likes, but is still proper seating) is completely empty and you totally have the ability to sit together as a family.  Also, the eleven-year-old you brought with was too young to see Neighbors.

(Spoilers Ahead) Now, let's get into the movie, which was surprisingly, interestingly, quite entertaining.  Honestly-I didn't expect a movie that looked like this to be what this ended up being.  While not on the same level as Bridesmaids (that was in my personal Top 10 of that year) or 21 Jump Street (cannot wait for the sequel!), it has that sort of vibe-a film that knows what it's supposed to be and then either gives us the best version of that genre or at least gamely toys with us as an audience.

The film is about a couple named Mac and Kelly (Rogen and Byrne) with a new toddler, living their dream in the suburbs.  They have lost a bit of the spark in their lives, but are genuinely happy with each other, generally love each other, and they go in-and-out, a little bit bored with where they lives have gone.  They're basically in that moment in your early 30's where the party years have largely ended, with the rare throwback maybe once a year when your crazy party friend calls up, but overall you have brunches and fancy soaps in the bathroom and Pottery Barn (there's an hilarious scene late in the film where Rogen and Byrne confess they actually like the things they used to mock when they were younger).  Their life is torn asunder when a fraternity moves in next door to them, causing them to be awake at all hours and eventually a rivalry forms between the two when they call the cops on the fraternity and the ringleader of the fraternity Teddy (Efron) decides to start coming after them with pranks.

The rest of the film occasionally veers toward Rube Goldberg level pranks (you saw this in the trailer, but there's a scene where Teddy has put airbags all around Mac's office and home in the chairs and Mac is frequently sent flying as a result).  The pranks almost all work, and the film spins by; there's nothing particularly ground-breaking or fresh here, but what elevates a routine film into something highly watchable is a game cast, and you've got a strong one here.  Rogen, so used to being on the frat side of comedy, is the perfect casting choice for someone struggling between the two worlds and with the fear of getting old (not just aging, but that unknowable line where you have become "old").  Efron is even better as the occasionally sinister, sexually-charged Teddy.  I read a Richard Lawson article for Vanity Fair where he speculated that this performance was informed by Efron's drug use, which I found a bit inappropriate and wildly hypothetical without more proof, but I did agree with him that Efron as a villain is something I didn't know I wanted, but it totally works.  Rose Byrne wins MVP, however.  She gets saddled with the most traditionally thankless role of the three, the role without as many bells, and she finds layers in this woman (away from her home country, she's very reliant on Mac and her adorable baby Stella for definition, and relishes the escalating prank war) and also gets to eagerly play in the pranking war.

Much has been said about the film's high gay content, and while no character in the film is obviously gay (though there's a Grindr joke that any gay man will silently be snickering at that may well go over their straight theater friends' heads), there is definitely a homosexual vibe to the film that cannot be denied.  Efron is treated like an object of lustful worship, something that sexuality can disregard as we all just sort of stand back and drool.  The film takes his character through the ringer (pointing out the folly of his ways when he realizes the real world is not going to care if he made it "on the wall" of his frat's greatest achievements), but it's always in heat toward him.

One of the only larger complaints I had about the film is the age of the actors involved.  While I was able to discard this for Efron, who can still pull off college-age even if he's getting to the limit, Dave Franco is 28 bordering on 29-he's simply too old to be playing this character anymore (he's only three years younger than Rogen), and I feel like he needs to graduate to more mature roles, which may be a career killer for Franco who has never really exhibited the actorly sensibilities that his older brother did.  I also feel like Christopher Mintz-Plasse (whose appeal has always alluded me), despite being relatively young, looks too old for this part and also needs to graduate to non-college aged roles (which, again, may be a large problem for an actor who has shown no range to do anything other than McLovin).

That said, this is a really fun movie, and at 97 minutes, a brisk one.  I'm guessing most people have seen it by now-if so, what did you think?  Do you feel that Rose Byrne was the standout as well?  What are your thoughts about the shifting careers of Zac Efron and Seth Rogen?  Share in the comments!