Movie Review: Neighbors

Neighbors, starring Seth Rogen and Zach Ephron, is about a young married couple with a baby who have the misfortune of having a loud, wild fraternity move in next door.  At first, the married couple are open to some younger, cooler, fun-loving neighbors who like to bash 24-7, but the constant noise becomes a problem.  Their fragile friendship turns ugly once Rogen is forced into calling the police after another sleepless night.  Zach Ephron retaliates by littering their front yard with empty beer cans and condoms.  At first, Rogen and his family try to move.  A realtor assures them that their property value has plummeted and they can at maximum expect to get half of what they paid for the house.  Faced with this terrible reality, Rogen checks into getting the fraternity kicked out of the college.  This is another dead end but gives him and his wife ideas. They begin to sabotage Ephron and his brothers.  The rest of the movie is pretty much an Ephron vs. Rogen practical joke war.

My Review:
Rogen continues to take on roles as the lovable, pot-smoking Jew boy.  His self-effacing personality plays well off of the perfect Ephron.  At one point he stands next to Ephron shirtless-you got to admire him for putting himself out there.  He does this role exceptionally well and I suspect this is more about who he is rather than the craft of acting.  His wife, played by Rose Byrne, plays a bored housewife with a baby (I can relate) who stands by her man on every count.  I loved Rose in Damages (TV show) and Bridesmaids.  She's so gorgeous, expressive, and good at comedy.   Ephron, always a chiseled god, plays the stereotypical party-er who is about to graduate from college.  The movie portrays fraternities as drug/booze loving men who want to live like real-life Jackasses. His character at one point shifts on a small level from college boy to demented nut job.  He was not too convincing.  Some of the jokes/scenes were very funny and some were very frivolous and predictable.  Like Rogen's last movie, This is the End, the movie doesn't have a clear protagonist and antagonist, just misunderstood characters looking for fun.  Overall, if you are looking for laughs and like movies such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Porkies, this is your flick.  Otherwise, wait until it's free on your premium cable channel.  3/5 Stars