“The Neighbors” hit theaters last Friday, delivering its promised crude humor and frat house bromances that will leave audiences laughing. Seth Rogan and Zac Efron face off as hostile neighbors, one the caricature of a fraternity president and the other an almost-mature new dad who wants a safe neighborhood for his daughter. Rogan, as Mac Radner, desperately tries to maintain his cool when dealing with the out-of-control fraternity but unintentionally provokes them by calling the police when a party gets too loud. This sparks their picket-fence war, each prank more explosive and violent than the last.
In between slapstick humor and one-line jokes, Rogan and Efron display their opposite physiques in an amusing way, first when Mac Radner tries to party with the frat boys and speak their lingo and again in a competitive dance-off. The comparison ends with an impromptu modeling session outside an Abercrombie and Fitch store, where Teddy (Efron) encourages Mac by saying, “You make the story more approachable.”
“Neighbors” isn’t one to employ witty well-thought out jokes, but instead earns its R rating with crude and vulgar humor.
