Bad Neighbours (2014) Review

Bad Neighbours (2014) Review

Director - Nicholas Stoller

Stars – Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron

Nicholas Stoller is probably best known as a director of features such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him To The Greek, films instantly associated with actors such as Jonah Hill, Jason Segel and basically anyone else that has worked with either Judd Apatow or Evan Goldberg. It therefore comes as little surprise that he would choose to direct a film starring Seth Rogen (amongst other familiar associates), complete with more dick jokes than you could possibly imagine. But there is more to be said for Bad Neighbours than what is suggested by this.

  Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly (Rose Byrne) are the couple who have just begun to settle into family life when all semblance of normality is destroyed by the arrival of a frat house moving in next door. The unruly college students are led by an idiotic yet charismatic Teddy (Zac Efron) accompanied by equally absurd right-hand man Pete (Dave Franco). Despite an initially warm first encounter, an inevitable turf war ensues resulting in plotting and scheming on both sides of the fence. Penis jokes aside, the film takes care to give a degree of depth to its characters, giving Rose Byrne a surprising amount of scope as the new mother reluctant to adjust to the routines of family life. Rogen performs his usual slacker shtick in a way that works well in the context of a grown man who still doesn’t quite know how to be a responsible father. Zac Efron’s character is also more than just the obnoxious frat boy, displaying an element of compassion whilst ensuring the unity of ‘Delta Si’ in a bizarre and somewhat contradictory notion of “Bro-hood”. One particular scene that demonstrates this involves a fantastic appearance from Craig Roberts (of Submarine fame) aka ‘assjuice’, proof that the film’s funniest moments are often produced from its more minor characters. As an actor who has been involved in some painfully unfunny films (That Awkward Moment was just plain awkward), Efron is brilliant in Bad Neighbours through embodying everything equally terrible yet redeemable about being a frat boy.

If you enjoy watching college debauchery in all its absurdity along with routine performances from funny-men like Seth Rogen then Bad Neighbours will tick all the boxes. Unfortunately the film will do little to stand out from the Canadian’s earlier work like The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Superbad. Despite a more interesting plot, the film’s obsession with giggling at the male anatomy becomes a little tiresome – not to mention blowing its load of decent gags in the trailer.

RATING 3/5

By Tom Boucher