7/10

Seth Rogen and Zack Efron star as neighbors feuding in this new comedy directed by Nicholas Stoller. Efron brings his fraternity to a nice neighborhood that Rogen is living in with his wife, Rose Byrne. The chemistry between Rogen and Efron is incredible considering they have never done a film together. I feel like Efron has finally found his perfect role as a cocky fraternity leader. He is everything that you hate about crude college guys, and I don’t thin…k the role could be better casted. The movie itself I didn’t find very funny, but the movie works as a good story by itself. The comedy doesn’t work because a lot of it are skits thrown against a wall to see what sticks for laughs. There were a couple scenes that had me cracking up, but it’s Rogen’s usual schtick. I worry a lot that Rogen may be turning into the next Vince Vaughn in the fact that he plays the same role in every movie. The comedy is ok, the characters are great, but this movie earns it’s positive rating from a great supporting cast led by Dave Franco and Mad TV’s own Ike Berenholtz. Franco and Efron could easily be brothers with their comedic timing bouncing off one another. One scene in particular has the two bouncing different names for “Bro’s before ho’s” off of each other that every man in existence will be quoting for the next ten years. The movie only comes in at an hour and a half, but it’s clear to see that some scenes were deleted. There are two scenes in particular from the trailers that weren’t present in the film, so there should be tons of DVD extras. One thing I didn’t understand about the film is how the rest of the neighbors wouldn’t have a problem with the loud music and debauchery. They briefly address it with the frat brothers helping out around the neighborhood, but that would never ever be enough for people losing sleep. I would recommend this movie for any type of crowd. I think this is a film that people are targeting with or without my review, and that’s ok. I think that this film is going to mostly be universally loved considering the comedic scene has been more than absent in 2014 so far. Neighbors isn’t the funny comedic joy ride that it was promised in the trailers. Mainly because all of the good scenes happen in the trailers. But it’s a story that anyone with an obnoxious neighbor can relate to. That is the key to any film; relatable content. Neighbors has that in spades.