Neighbors

Neighbors (released as Bad Neighbours internationally) is a 2014 American comedy film, directed by Nicholas Stoller( Lewder, weirder, louder, leaner, meaner person and more winningly stupid than anything) and written by Andrew Cohen and Brendan O’Brien.The film stars Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Rose Byrne, Dave Franco, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. The film was released in the United States on May 9, 2014.
 

Neighbors has the odd distinction of being a film that's both very funny and yet, at 96 minutes long, overstays its welcome. I blame most of this on what seems to be the prevailing idea in comedies involving Seth Rogen suggesting smoking weed is somehow both cool and hilarious. For Rogen in particular it seems to be something of a self-loathing sense of "look at how pathetically awesome this is" personality trait, and it's a contradiction I can't quite wrap my head around. It isn't funny as much as it grows tired and redundant, but perhaps that's my own personal hang up.

Mac Radner (Seth Rogen) and his wife Kelly (Rose Byrne) are a young couple with a newborn daughter, Stella, which alienates them from their friends Jimmy Faldt (Ike Barinholtz) and his ex-wife, Paula (Carla Gallo) and lead to several failed attempts to maintain their old lifestyle. One day, the couple finds out that Delta Psi, a fraternity known for their outrageous parties, has moved next door, and decide to ask them to keep the noise down. The fraternity's leaders, Teddy Sanders (Zac Efron) and Pete Regazolli (Dave Franco), agree, on the condition that Mac and Kelly always ask them instead of calling the police.
Teddy and Pete aspire to join Delta Psi's Hall of Fame by throwing a massive end-of-the-year party. Mac and Kelly later ask them to keep it down, and are intrigued by a party going on. Teddy invites them in, wanting to earn their favor, and Kelly bonds with Teddy's girlfriend, Brooke Shy (Halston Sage), while Teddy shows Mac his bedroom, the Lion's Den, which includes a stash of fireworks and a breaker box that turns on their sound system. Teddy also mentions they accidentally burned down their old fraternity house.

The following night, Mac and Kelly call Teddy to ask him to keep it down, but he doesn't answer. Kelly convinces Mac to make an anonymous call to the police, but Officer Watkins (Hannibal Buress) knows it's them due to Caller ID and warns Teddy. The following day, Delta Psi begin to constantly haze Mac and Kelly. Mac decides to rally the neighborhood against Delta Psi, but Teddy has already befriended them all. The couple then goes to the college dean, Carol Gladstone (Lisa Kudrow), but she reveals that they have a three strikes policy, and burning down their old house was only Delta Psi's first strike.
Mac and Kelly damage Delta Psi's house, planning to force them to move since they can't afford expensive repairs, but the fraternity manages to raise money to cover their costs by selling sex toys, and the parties get rowdier. Kelly notices Brooke and Pete are attracted to each other and enlists Jimmy and Paula's help so they can manipulate Teddy into catching his girlfriend having sex with his best friend. They succeed, and Teddy and Pete get into a fight, which ends with a lit barbecue being throw into the path of an incoming car and injuring an old man, which becomes Delta Psi's second strike.
Teddy finds Pete at a job fair, looking a prospective jobs, and they make amends, but Teddy feels out of place and returns to the fraternity. Meanwhile, Mac and Kelly convince Jimmy to help them give Delta Psi their final strike by reminding him that Paula is having sex with one of the brothers, Scoonie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). They bribe a belittled prospect, Assjuice (Craig Roberts), to acquire evidence of Delta Psi's hazing schemes. Assjuice stands up to Teddy to record him threatening retaliation, but when Teddy instead shows him kindness, Assjuice reveals that Mac and Kelly hired him to spy on the fraternity, and also damaged their house. Teddy begins playing violent pranks on the couple, and Kelly fears they might be in real danger. They end up getting into a fight, and Kelly leaves the house, though they later reconcile.

Teddy is upset they can no longer have parties and join the Hall of Fame, but Pete points out none of Delta Psi's accomplishments are real, and they need to focus on life after college. He accuses Teddy of hating the Radners because they remind him of his future, and they part ways angrily. Teddy later confronts Mac and Kelly, but they want to end the feud. Teddy infuriates them once again by claiming Stella will grow up surrounded by fraternity brothers and will become one of their party girls.
Mac and Kelly send Teddy a fake letter from Gladstone allowing them to have parties again, and begins planning their end-of-the-year bash. Once the party is in full swing, they call Officer Watkins to complain about the noise. Teddy finds a flyer about the party and, since Delta Psi only promotes their events online, he deduces this is part of Mac and Kelly's plan and shuts the party down just as Officer Watkins shows up. Jimmy throws himself from the balcony to distract Teddy so Mac and Kelly can sneak into the Lion's Den and restart the party using the breaker box, but Teddy catches them and fights Mac, while Kelly lights one of the fireworks and shoots it at Officer Watkins' patrol car to stall him. Paula asks Scoonie to restart the party, which he does using a back-up breaker box. Jimmy later declares his love for Paula and they reconnect.

Teddy decides to take the blame for the party and convinces Pete and the others to flee. Gladstone shuts down the house and Mac and Kelly return victorious to their home and finally accept their lives have changed. Four months later, Mac runs into Teddy, who is working as a male model, and they make amends, with Teddy revealing that Pete is working at an architecture firm and Delta Psi moved to another house near their campus. Returning home, they decline an invitation to go to a party with Jimmy and Paula and instead stay home and play with Stella.

For the most part this is a series of punchlines and while the pot smoking jokes get old, the rest remains rather funny. This doesn't change the fact that it's a rather narrative-less feature, but I'd much rather watch a comedy that knows it's a comedy and doesn't try to turn the final act into something more dramatic than it needs to be.

The consequences for the debauchery on display are either recognized or so absurd you forgive them for ignoring them for the sake of laughter. Where the movie succeeds, which only adds to the comedy, is a clear representation of two sides of the age fence. On one side we all remember what it was like to party and have fun during our college years while older audiences will find a connection with the older, more mature couple, starting a family and finding comfort in a quiet night at home. Yet, that yearning for the days of their youth and occasionally allowing for a night of craziness of their own remains. Trust me, I know...