To start off, Seth Rogen does essentially play himself in this movie, as per usual. But have we ever seen Seth Rogen as a dad? Because, while he's a terrible parent, he's a hilarious one. As crude as the humor may be, it might be a step above his usual stuff. Byrne plays opposite Rogen very well, both as the caring mother and the out-of-touch Australian.
The main appeal to this movie is that there's a lot more heart than you'd expect. You think it's setting you up to hate Greek life or take shots at older new parents, but I ended up sympathizing with nearly every major character in this movie. What makes it, is there are no flat characters. You're able to see the faults and strengths of Efron, Rogen, Byrne, and Franco, which makes the movie a lot funnier when you can relate to it.
With that said, Efron and Franco had some career jump-starting performances. Franco has been building his the past few years, but Efron needed a boost. It's been nearly a decade since his High School Musical breakthrough, and Efron finally found a role that can show his abilities as an actor. I sincerely hope that he can grab more roles from this, because I was getting really tired of not liking the guy. Franco is no longer playing "just a douchebag" which is a good step in the right direction. I was done with seeing Cole from season 9 of Scrubs in movies.
I still have to say something negative.Ike Barinholtz fits really well into the movie, but Carla Gallo doesn't seem to have a purpose except to look crazy and flesh out Ike's character. Their sub-plot of a sub-plot doesn't really play out like the film wants it to, but the audience doesn't really care, because it doesn't take them out of the movie.
As played out as the concept of neighbors fighting sounds, this movie just felt more original than your usual summer comedy. There are a few familiar scenes (i.e. trying to catch someone doing something illegal with a hidden camera), but there were so many things that I can say I've never seen before, even some of the most basic jokes came off as genius.
As predictable as this movie seems, it takes some different roads that gave it a different tone. These weren't douchey college kids just not caring about their neighbors; they were a friendly group of people who were misunderstood by the equally misunderstood older couple. All of the interactions just hit on a deeper level to where the audience can understand the inner thoughts of each character, while still being absolutely hysterical.
Overall, Neighbors might end up being the best comedy I'll see this summer (we'll see how A Million Ways to Die in the West turns out). After my Amazing Spider-Man 2 review, I've decided to stick with the double rating system. The first rating will represent the niche or genre, while the second will represent the film in comparison to other films. If you like the potty humor, you'll like Neighbors.
Summer Comedy About Feuding Neighbors: A
Average: B
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