There have been a whole lot of funny movies released over the last few years, like there are over generally any few year period, but recently not so many of them have been the sorts of films that you would describe as being straight comedies. Back at the beginning of the aughts there was a mainstream comedy explosion, where anything starring Will Farrell or Seth Rogen or that was either directed or produced by Judd Apatow was an immediate hit, and likely a pretty funny movie. That was ten years ago though, and since the first few years of that initial explosion, things have gotten bleaker. Now we’re living in a world where Anchorman 2 was a big disappointment, Rogen became so overexposed he had to step back from acting a bit and move behind the camera, and Apatow has earned a reputation for making long, indulgent comedies that wear out their welcome with audiences. Basically, Bridesmaids and 21 Jump Street were the well-loved mainstream comedies of the past couple years, and that’s about it.
That’s why it’s so refreshing to watch Neighbors, which doesn’t try to be anything other than a ridiculous and silly vehicle for gag delivery, but that still manages to be funny and well-done instead of being either just plain terrible (things like We’re the Millers or The Incredible Burt Wonderstone) or too long and unfocused (things like This is Forty or The Five-Year Engagement). This is not only the funniest movie that Nicholas Stoller has directed since Forgetting Sarah Marshall, it’s the funniest movie with mainstream actors and a wide-release distribution model that I’ve seen since last years This is the End, or maybe even further back. It’s hard to keep the mountain of wiener jokes I’ve seen throughout my life catalogued at this point, you know? What’s important is that this movie is really funny.
Neighbors stars Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne as a pair of young parents who are living a pretty idyllic life in a pretty idyllic residential neighborhood, though there is some indication that their newly responsibility-laden existence has them craving a bit of excitement. The key words there are “a bit” though, because they end up getting way more excitement than they can handle when a fraternity moves into the house next door to them. Led by an impossibly handsome Zac Efron and his also impressively handsome right hand man, Dave Franco, the Delta Psis include members like the dopey but well-endowed Scoonie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), the dopey but charming Garf (Jerrod Carmichael), and the put-upon pledge Assjuice (Craig Roberts). All are young, loud, irresponsible, and dedicated to partying as crazily and disruptively as possible, which puts a cramp in our protagonists’ baby-raising schedule. Some initial niceties are made, but after the frat’s assurances to “keep it down” prove to be empty, the police are called, and then feelings are hurt. What follows the hurt feelings can best be described as a prank war of attrition, where Rogen and Byrne’s characters try to get the frat closed down, and the frat tries to make their neighbors’ lives as big of a living hell as possible, all while everyone’s efforts take them to hilariously immoral places.
The script is credited to Andrew J. Cohen and Brendan O’Brien, so they should get their fair share of the credit for all the humor working, but the rest of the credit needs to go to the talented cast Stoller assembled. Everyone here is good. Movies like this often get made fun of for romantically pairing a gorgeous woman with a schlubby comedian, so you can definitely criticize the casting on that point, because when Rogen and Byrne share sex scenes it looks positively ridiculous, but besides that gender politics-based nitpicking, the two make for a pretty strong comedic pair. While the physical chemistry isn’t there, the chemistry in their banter is.
Rogen is just hilarious in stuff like this, because his instincts regarding when to use deadpan and when to go big are always spot on. Byrne probably can’t be considered all that funny on her own, but she’s definitely game to contribute, and when she’s paired with good material she always does well with it. She’s closer to Cameron Diaz (whose enthusiasm can be helpful) than she is to Jennifer Aniston (who has never made me laugh) on the pretty lady who got inexplicably turned into a comedic actress scale. Plus, it’s impressive how she can go from being so frigid and unlikable in a comedy like Bridesmaids to being totally warm and charming in something like this. She’s a good hand, and the script thankfully never forces her to battle against her character coming off as a nagging shrew, so overall the central couple are a real treat.
The other big couple here is the pair of fraternity brothers played by Efron and Franco. It turns out Zac Efron is really funny, which is shocking, because humor generally comes from a place of pain and alienation, so somebody who’s that ridiculously handsome is pretty much going against nature by also being funny. He’s got a conviction as an actor that makes you believe in everything he does too, to the point where the mindless privilege of his character starts to look sociopathic, and there starts to be real stakes regarding just how far he’s willing to go to beat his neighbor in this prank war. Is the baby safe? Franco is pretty great too, as a character who’s simultaneously Efron’s right hand as well as being his own man. It’s interesting how he’s given things to do away from the frat house for a scene or two. You get just enough of a hint of what these guys lives are like to differentiate them from each other and to build their characters, but not enough to make the movie cluttered. By the time the end credits roll you know who each of the brothers are, what role they serve in the group dynamic, and every complexity of each of their individual relationships.
Which is probably the big thing that separates Neighbors from all the other recent straight comedies, even the ones that have been generally successful—it manages to make you care about all of its characters, whether they’re the protagonist who goes through the big character arc or not. The frat guys are not just the cut and dried villains here, and the new parents aren’t the heroes who you can always root for. At times they all manage to be assholes, and at others they all manage to be relatable—and by the end you’re not really sure who you want to win. That’s a lot of nuance to fit into a movie that’s also packed with jokes and that still comes in at a refreshingly light 96 minute run time. Comedies work best when they get in, do their job, and get out, and with Neighbors, Stoller has seemed to have learned that lesson well.
