Movie: Neighbors

Neighbors: a comedy.  The opening scenes introduce us to a  young couple, Mac and Kelly (Seth Rogan and Rose Byrne), who have just bought a house, and their baby daughter.  Shortly after they move into their new home, the house next door is sold to a college fraternity.  The setup is obvious and at times the script delivers.  The question is whether the film will work for you over its 96 minute duration.  If your type of comedy is visual slapstick, you’ll be okay with this film.  As for me, I found the characters one dimensional and the married couple’s behavior unrealistic.  Neighbors is a Netflixer and not worth the cost of a movie ticket.  I might have enjoyed the film more sans baby; you just don’t leave a baby home alone, and a lot occurs at the frat house while the baby is home alone.  This was a distraction as were the scenes of Mac at work.  They were merely fillers, which illustrates the thinness of the primary storyline.  I also found the chemistry among the fraternity brothers odd.  Zac Efron gives a good performance as Teddy, the president of the fraternity.  Dave Franco plays the second in command, Pete, and this character had potential.  Unfortunately, the film offers only hints of what could have been an interesting story about two seniors, one of whom matures through his college tenure.  A possible nominee for Worse Supporting Actress in a Comedy is Lisa Kudrow as a college dean.  The only other female with any substantive lines is Carla Gallo as Kelly’s divorced friend.  The scenes with Gallo are funny.  Hannibal Buress, who plays a police officer, also offers some humorous moments.  Otherwise, the movie, directed by Nicholas Stoller, is mostly male humor with drugs.