Details
Director
Nicholas Stoller
Starring
Seth Rogen
Zac Efron
Rose Bryne
Dave Franco
Writer
Andrew J. Cohen
Brendan O'Brien
Length
97 minutes
Plot
Young couple Mac and Kelly (Rogen and Bryne) are settling into life as homeowners with their new baby when a frat house, led by Teddy (Efron) moves in next door. A prank war ensues.
-Spoilers Follow-
So I'm writing this whilst taking a break from my review of 2001: A Space Odyssey which has been gestating for a couple of weeks now, I figured it was time to let it breathe for a moment and then come back it with a fresher mind. Which leads me to discussing Bad Neighbours.
Now I expected this film to be a lot worse. Zac Efron is nowhere near my list of essentials on a movie I want to see and Rogen's output is a mixed bag at best. For every 50/50 there is The Green Hornet. Fortunately I caught their interview (with Matt LeBlanc who was promoting Episodes) on The Graham Norton Show and their shared chemistry raised my impressions. Now Bad Neighbours - which for some reasons is only called Neighbors in the US, surely this also proves their spelling is wrong when that's how the rest of the world does it - isn't going to change your life, but it is entertaining and it is really quite funny.
There is a fair amount of inventiveness in the laughs produced here, with a couple of gags involving homemade dildos, Robert DeNiro impressions, an airbag and babies first rave. At the same time some of these jokes play on for too long and the ones that don't work do the same (such as trying to not so discreetly go out for a joint at work and the punning battle between Efron and Franco) While the film wastes time by doing this and by focusing on music video style house parties it still breezes by at a (relatively) brisk 90 minutes. The finale also goes on for too long although it still offers plenty of jokes its just that it would have been better if this wasted time was spent on fleshing out the characters. Time could have been used to highlight how Kelly is beginning to feel bored being at home all of the time instead of merely hinting at it or how Teddy is directionless when he graduates which gets about 5 minutes of screen time, instead of finding other ways to say 'bros before hos'.
Fortunately Bryne's Kelly gets just as much to do as the boys, there's even a scene where Mac addresses that she's supposed to be the responsible one that reins him in, to which Kelly responds that shes just as new to this as him, doesn't want to be the buzzkill and shouldn't have to carry all of the responsibility. Maybe none of the characters are properly fleshed out, but arguably Bryne's drew the long straw. There's also a lot of (but not too many) of really cute baby moments. And one moment that's disgusting and I cant believe that little girls parents went through with that.
Maybe Bad Neighbours isn't a film that will stand the test of time, perhaps it could have been better than the result seen here but making it better but would have meant making it 'heavier' in how it tackles its subject matter (growing up and accepting responsibility) and that would have robbed it of some of the spring in its step. After all its probably something Efron did for a laugh, Bryne did for the resume and Rogen did in order to bolster studio favour (he seems keen to move onto directing after all) but in the moment its enjoyable, with no bad aftertaste and leaves you with some good moments for a few days after.
3.25 of 5
Director
Nicholas Stoller
Starring
Seth Rogen
Zac Efron
Rose Bryne
Dave Franco
Writer
Andrew J. Cohen
Brendan O'Brien
Length
97 minutes
Plot
Young couple Mac and Kelly (Rogen and Bryne) are settling into life as homeowners with their new baby when a frat house, led by Teddy (Efron) moves in next door. A prank war ensues.
-Spoilers Follow-
So I'm writing this whilst taking a break from my review of 2001: A Space Odyssey which has been gestating for a couple of weeks now, I figured it was time to let it breathe for a moment and then come back it with a fresher mind. Which leads me to discussing Bad Neighbours.
Now I expected this film to be a lot worse. Zac Efron is nowhere near my list of essentials on a movie I want to see and Rogen's output is a mixed bag at best. For every 50/50 there is The Green Hornet. Fortunately I caught their interview (with Matt LeBlanc who was promoting Episodes) on The Graham Norton Show and their shared chemistry raised my impressions. Now Bad Neighbours - which for some reasons is only called Neighbors in the US, surely this also proves their spelling is wrong when that's how the rest of the world does it - isn't going to change your life, but it is entertaining and it is really quite funny.
There is a fair amount of inventiveness in the laughs produced here, with a couple of gags involving homemade dildos, Robert DeNiro impressions, an airbag and babies first rave. At the same time some of these jokes play on for too long and the ones that don't work do the same (such as trying to not so discreetly go out for a joint at work and the punning battle between Efron and Franco) While the film wastes time by doing this and by focusing on music video style house parties it still breezes by at a (relatively) brisk 90 minutes. The finale also goes on for too long although it still offers plenty of jokes its just that it would have been better if this wasted time was spent on fleshing out the characters. Time could have been used to highlight how Kelly is beginning to feel bored being at home all of the time instead of merely hinting at it or how Teddy is directionless when he graduates which gets about 5 minutes of screen time, instead of finding other ways to say 'bros before hos'.
Fortunately Bryne's Kelly gets just as much to do as the boys, there's even a scene where Mac addresses that she's supposed to be the responsible one that reins him in, to which Kelly responds that shes just as new to this as him, doesn't want to be the buzzkill and shouldn't have to carry all of the responsibility. Maybe none of the characters are properly fleshed out, but arguably Bryne's drew the long straw. There's also a lot of (but not too many) of really cute baby moments. And one moment that's disgusting and I cant believe that little girls parents went through with that.
Maybe Bad Neighbours isn't a film that will stand the test of time, perhaps it could have been better than the result seen here but making it better but would have meant making it 'heavier' in how it tackles its subject matter (growing up and accepting responsibility) and that would have robbed it of some of the spring in its step. After all its probably something Efron did for a laugh, Bryne did for the resume and Rogen did in order to bolster studio favour (he seems keen to move onto directing after all) but in the moment its enjoyable, with no bad aftertaste and leaves you with some good moments for a few days after.
3.25 of 5
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