Neighbors

THE PITCH

WORTH

$$$

THE VIEWING

"Pete: Do you think maybe we've gone too far? I'm a child of divorce and I sympathize with them.

Teddy Sanders: My parents love each other, and I think it's hilarious."

Weed smoke, explicit nudity scenes, crude humor equipped with a plethora of penis jokes, Seth Rogen's deadpan style of comedy aaaand did I mention penis jokes? If you are uncomfortable only thinking about those characteristics in one movie, you won’t like this or any Seth Rogen directed/produced film.  If you are a fan of his comedy or you can handle his brand of comedy then The Neighbors is pretty funny.

     The whole concept of having to buy a house and deal with unknowns [neighbors] is scary enough, try mixing the experience of also raising your first born into the batter.  A Frat house right next door? Wow.  That’s something I would love to read about or watch, could be an awesome television series, but I would hate to have to go through that.  Although most Frat houses abide by the rules, I wonder about some of the start-up or carbon copy imposters… Could be a nightmare, Seth Rogen & company did a very good job explaining why.  

      The story was entertaining enough just from the main conflict.  There were a couple of subplots but no real ‘twists’. Twists were substituted by surprises, funny ones.  Seth and Rose Byrne had okay to weird chemistry on screen but the baby was probably the best actress on screen.

      A lot of the reason I liked the movie was because of relatability.  It seems as Seth ages more and more of his perspectives mirror my own and most guys for that matter.  Makes me wonder if he has even reached his peak yet.  The potential is there but its still a mystery how this career will pan out.

    Can’t emphasize crude humor enough, be warned.  The movie itself was worth the buck.  Big laughs being the main reason.  So many of these types of comedies hit and miss, This Is The End being an example of that, but where The Neighbors succeed is not only in the much funnier dialogue but the anecdotes in the main story having real plausibility.    

  letter grade: B-