Rivero Reviews Movies: 'NEIGHBORS' Movie Review

Here's my review of 2014's comedy 'Neighbors'. As cool and neat the trailer may look be ready for something quite...........entertaining.

'Neighbors' is directed by Nicholas Stoller and it stars Seth Rogan, Zach Efron, Rose Byrne, Dave Franco and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.

'Neighbors' is about a family living in a nice neighbourhood. There are the parents Mac(Seth Rogen), Kelly(Rose Byrne) and their child(some baby). Everything is well and they live happily looking forward to the future and raising their child the best they can. In walks Teddy(Zac Efron), his friends and literally an entire fraternity moving in next door. Mac and Kelly are skeptical about their new neighbours and feels their presence could disrupt their lives (as any normal parents would feel). Initially things run smoothly but then it turns a little hostile between agreements. We now have our movie.

I've heard some good things about this movie and I got to say that this is quite entertaining. Within the first 2 minutes we shown what kind of a movie it is. It's tone is quick and has excellent pacing between jokes and scenarios. What is also interesting to me is the casting of Seth Rogen and Zac Efron. In a way they seem like an unlikely duo, we have Seth Rogan coming out of movies like Superbad, This is the End and Knocked up where he always plays the 'weed head' or on some kind of drugs. Don't get me wrong he still plays the same character here just toned down a little with the wife being ok with it and fathering a baby. Then we have Zac Efron and as you may already know from High School Musical, 17 again and Charlie St. Cloud. A rising star in my opinion as clearly evident in some dramatic and touching moments here(I'll get to that soon).

Anyways this pairing sounds a tad unusual however it strengthens the movie by the tension and competition between the characters.

I am so glad to see a fresh new take on rivalry with comedic timing here being absolutely brilliant. Not only do we get hilarious situations but we also get many references to current pop culture that adds as an extra enhancement to the scene. There were times when I was left gasping to the extent of an outcome and how some things may have gone too far. Although not too far that it would be deemed inappropriate but enough to give us a somewhat realistic insight to a family or a fraternity. These moments would also be able to add weight to a certain character's personality and how it helps them learn more about themselves.

What I didn't expect from this movie is the emotional direction they went for in regards to life after college. My favourite scenes had to be the ones where Teddy(Zac Efron) and Pete(Dave Franco) refer to their futures and reflect on what it is they are looking to achieve in their current lives. These collective amount of scenes were an excellent build up to their final scene together and their touching, strong relationship was an extra bonus to this fun movie. I love films that involve the theme of life. My recent review of 'Good Will Hunting' had something similar and not only would it possibly choke you up a bit but hands you subtle, memorable life lessons. This definitely had an effect on me. In a comedy Zac Efron and Dave Franco handled dramatic scenes very well. I think it's time to take Efron a little bit more seriously now. Keep an eye on him.

Overall 'Neighbors' was a joy to watch I believe something that could be lacking is the fact that Mac(Seth Rogen) and Kelly(Rose Byrne) could be deemed a little childish and over the top (although I do understand why they are so I'll let it pass).

In the end this movie is funny and I suggest you see it. Not only because you're into Zac Efron but for the laughs.

I'm giving 'Neighbors' a rating review of 8.5/10.

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