**********SPOILER ALERT!!!!!**********
So, this post is going to contain spoilers about the new Seth Rogen/Zac Efron comedy Neighbors. If you haven't seen Neighbors, I recommend that you do not continue to read this post. If, you have seen Neighbors or you don't really care, then of course, continue at your own risk...
Admittedly, I am not a huge fan of the R-rated comedy. Crude, sexual humour is not really my thing, as I am not a 20 something year old boy. And that's okay, I'm not really the demographic that they're aiming for anyway. Now, with that being said, I saw Neighbors because I have heard really great things about it, and because of Zac Efron.
I am a big fan of Zac Efron, and am glad to see that he is branching out and trying new things. While I am not a huge fan of Nicholas Sparks movies (even though I manage to somehow see all of them!), he was a real bright spot in The Lucky One and I also enjoyed That Awkward Moment with Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan. This news that Marvel may be courting him to be their new "heartthrob" is interesting, so we'll see what happens with that.
Conversely, I am not a real fan of Seth Rogen. I did not care for Knocked Up and just recently saw Pineapple Express, which I thought was okay. I did, however, really, really like Paul, with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, but that may be because he was only a voice. (Although, I will admit, I actually really liked the guest spot that he did on The Mindy Project last year. He was very charming and adorable).
That being said, I really liked this movie. It was actually quite charming and I think that there was a quite a bit of character development throughout. Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne play characters at a cross roads in their life. That space between being young, hip adults and boring, responsible parents. Their chemistry, as a married couple who are new parents to the cutest baby in the world, was great. And the way that their relationship was portrayed was refreshing. It was nice to see a comedy where the wife of the main character isn't such a nagging, whiny bitch that you wonder what he ever saw in her in the first place. Their relationship was a partnership, much like it would be in real life. They were a united front against the world. And Rose Byrne was amazing. It was great to see her actually get to use her natural Australian accent and nice to see her comedic side. She usually plays either more serious roles or the straight man, so it was nice to see her let loose a little bit. The breastfeeding scene was very unexpected and very intimate, and she just went for it. Kudos to her for putting herself out there, both literally and figuratively.
Zac Efron, as the head of the frat, was also an interesting character. He should have been the bad guy, the jerk with no regard or respect for anyone else. But he wasn't. He was actually an interesting character, with a number of layers, that made him surprisingly multi-dimensional and little bit sympathetic. His Teddy is a boy on the cusp of manhood, who wasn't quite sure what to do next. He's a compassionate young man who let's his pride and sense of honour get the best of him.
The problems start when, after partying with the frat boys one night, Mac and Kelly (Rogen and Byrne) break their promise to not call the police later on, when the noise gets out of control. The neighbors then go to war with one another, each trying to out do the other in the hopes that one of them will finally break and give in by moving out. The gags and jokes are quite humorous, culminating in a hilarious fight between Efron and Rogen near the end of the film. The final scene, outside Abercrombie & Fitch is also extremely amusing.
Overall, I enjoyed this movie and would recommend it. Again, it is nice to see Zac Efron branching out from the mainstream "romantic lead" trap that many attractive Hollywood men get sucked into. It was also good to see Seth Rogen doing something where he wasn't actually the stoner for once. This movie was way more entertaining then I expected and had way more heart and depth than movies like this one usually do. Kudos to director Nicholas Stoller for bringing more to the party than just a few penis jokes.
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