Neighbors: Blu-ray Review
The Movie:
By all appearances, new parents Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly Radner (Rose Byrne) are living the American Dream – complete with an adorable baby girl and a beautiful new starter home in the suburbs. Still, the early-thirtysomethings want to believe that they have a modicum of coolness left within them. So when they discover that their new next-door neighbors are none other than dozens of Delta Psi Beta fraternity brothers led by charismatic president Teddy Sanders (Zac Efron), they try to play along and make the best of an awkward situation. But when the frat’s parties grow increasingly more epic, both sides of the property line begin to fend for their turf. The neighbors’ relentless sabotage escalates into outrageous one-upmanship, beginning an epic Greek war for the ages.
This is a movie that is somewhat relatable to new parents. Sounds weird to say that right? It’s true though. The jumping off point of the movie is about a couple that are new parents and are still trying to deny the fact that they aren’t any fun anymore. If you are a parent then there’s a pretty good chance that you’ve had a moment like that in your life and it’s something like that that grabbed my attention right away and had me laughing from the start. It’s kind of hard to not like a movie with Seth Rogan in it. He has this likeability about him that makes you feel like he’s just another one of your friends. The only thing is that he seems like the same exact character in every movie that he’s in. Other than that the movie was nothing but fun with so many laughs. It’s more or less what you would expect from a Rogen film: penis jokes and all kinds of other raunch. So with that being said it may not be for everybody. Efron was pretty damn good and showed that he can do just about anything. Yes, for all the ladies (and some men) he was the eye candy of the film like everyone would expect but he can pull off comedy damn good. Paired with Dave Franco, they were awesome together and played off of one another flawlessly. In my opinion Franco is on the cusp of being a breakout star and I think this film is the perfect example of his comedic power. His most memorable moment for me was his brief impression of Robert De Niro from Meet The Parents. Byrne was so good and gave a comedic performance that I didn’t expect from her. I mean I knew she could be funny but not that funny. The film had it’s moments where the jokes either went on a little too long or fell flat but those moments were very few and didn’t hurt the film as a whole. If you’re looking for a fun movie that will give lots of laughs then I would recommend checking this out.
Special Features:
Alternate Opening – This was pretty good and shows what the frat did to their previous residence.
Deleted/Alternate Scenes – This a given in a movie with Seth Rogen. Some of these are actually pretty good but for the most part I can see why they were cut.
On The Set With… – A quick BTS feature with the cast and crew talking about their experiences while working on the film.
Gag Reel – With all the actors involved in the film you just KNOW that their flubs are going to be funny. This doesn’t disappoint.
The Frat – This feature show a bit about the Frat itself and just how things have changed with Fraternities over the years.
An Unlikely Pair – This shows just how different and strange it was to pair up the two leading men but somehow it works so well on screen.
Line-O-Rama – Alternate lines for certain scenes.
Partying With The Neighbors – A look at the big party sequences in the film.
