Neighbors (2014)
Directed by Nicholas Stoller
A couple with a newborn baby face unexpected difficulties after they are forced to live next to a fraternity house.
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What critics compared Neighbors to
Good Boys is produced by Seth Rogen’s Point Grey Pictures, which also brought us Superbad , Neighbors , and Sausage Party , so it should be no surprise that raunch and drug-related shenanigans will be major themes for what lies ahead.
Co-produced by Seth Rogen, and with a writer-producer pedigree that includes Superbad , Neighbors and Sausage Party , this R-rated romp is a randy coming-of-age comedy about a trio of 12-year-old best friends who find their first couple of weeks of sixth grade a wild ride of f-bombs, sex toys and illegal drugs.
Less a plot than a series of sketches, the latest film from Nicholas Stoller (The Five-Year Engagement, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) explores variations on the theme of bad fences making bad neighbors, as the fraternity Delta Psi Beta moves in next door to a couple whose early parenthood already has them emotionally vulnerable.
With Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The Five-Year Engagement , director Nicholas Stoller proved adept at combining lowbrow humor with surprisingly robust character development, telling stories that were as much about exploring relationships as they were about coming up with dick jokes.
This hilarious brawl is inventively staged by director Nicholas Stoller (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall”) and echoes the epic ineptitude of close-quarters fight scenes in “Raising Arizona” and “Borat.”
Written by Andrew J. Cohen and Brendan O’Brien and directed by Nicholas Stoller (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall”), “Neighbors” revels in the standard sex, drugs, and bodily fluids but takes care to throw in a few curveballs.
Rogen, Efron and director Nicholas Stoller ("Forgetting Sarah Marshall") feel like they're coasting, with the stars relying on their natural, and genuine, likeability more than anything else.
With 2008's " Forgetting Sarah Marshall ," 2010's " Get Him to the Greek ," and 2012's " The Five-Year Engagement ," director Nicholas Stoller has retained a consistently pleasing sensibility that he carries over here, one that draws audiences in with raucous R-rated humor and then wins them over with an articulate, verifiable human component.
As wild frat member Scoonie, Christopher Mintz-Plasse (2013's " Kick Ass 2 ") is underused in a role that could have been portrayed by anyone, while the forever-welcome Lisa Kudrow (2010's " Easy A ") brightens up her too-few scenes as by-the-book dean Carol Gladstone.
The film also stars newcomer Karen Fukuhara as Katana, a good guy whose Samurai sword holds the soul of her dead husband, Ike Barinholtz ("Neighbors") as a sadistic prison guard and a flash of Ezra Miller ("We Need to Talk About Kevin") as The Flash.
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As mission control operators Vivian and Lowery, Lauren Lapkus (2014's " Blended ") and Jake Johnson (2014's " Neighbors ") give color and personality to what could have been thankless, instantly forgettable supporting roles.
Zac Efron and Seth Rogen reunite in Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising.
Two years ago, "Neighbors" writers Andrew Jay Cohen and Brendan O'Brien, along with director Nicholas Stoller, reinvented the classic college party movie by pitting the frat guys against the young parents next door.
In the end, I was definitely happy to have seen it, considering Neighbors a good comedy for what it was.
Parents need to know that Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising is, like the first Neighbors , a hard-R comedy featuring tons of crass jokes, strong language, and almost non-stop underage substance use (mostly marijuana and beer) -- this time with even younger central characters (the sorority is started by first-year students).
The follow-up to 2014 comedy "Neighbors," also stars Chloë Grace Moretz.