During “Neighbors,” there’s a scene in which a mother who’s waited too long to breast-feed her baby needs relief, and viewers are treated to a graphic depiction of the dad stepping up to the plate:
“Your breasts look like my grandmother’s legs!” the husband, played by Seth Rogen (“Superbad,” “Knocked Up,” “Pineapple Express”), shouts in horror.
As the wife, played by Rose Byrne (TV’s “Damages”), looks at him disbelief, he follows that ill-conceived nugget with, “Get on your hands and knees so I can milk you!”
After the breast-feeding debacle is over, he continues to push for a night on the couch:
“That was ‘udderly’ traumatic,” he says, as she gives him a harsh look that says, “Stop.”
“Okay, okay,” he says. “But tell me, how traumatized are you? One percent? Two percent?”
The scene is equally humorous, bawdy, and sweet, which describes the movie as a whole. In “Neighbors,” a college fraternity moves into the house next to a couple in the throes of early marriage. The husband and wife are trying to learn how to live together, how to be parents, and how to deal with the responsibilities and pressures of being adults. They’re also trying to make the transition from a carefree, youthful mentality to a more mature mindset. The leaders of the fraternity, meanwhile, just want to party. Loudly.
Therein lies what passes for the plot. At first, the husband and wife awkwardly but nicely ask the frat to “keep it down,” and the president of the partiers, Teddy, played by Zac Efron (“That Awkward Moment,” “The Lucky One,” “High School Musical”), promises to do his best. This arrangement quickly goes awry, and soon the young couple and the frat are locked in a battle of escalating hijinks.
I liked half of “Neighbors.” Rogen and Byrne are funny, believable, and perfectly cast. Whenever they were on the screen, I perked up. A scene in which they try to engage in marital relations (to put it delicately) while also keeping an eye on their oh-so-adorable baby is both hilarious and cute, and their journey to full-on adulthood is touching to watch. (I don’t feel like I’m giving anything away by saying the movie wisely allows them to strike a balance between having fun and taking things seriously.)
The frat stuff is your typical “Animal House” debauchery amped up to today’s levels of unchecked hedonism: drug use, sex, foul language, and grotesque behavior are all on display, although they rarely cross into “hard R-rated” territory. This exceedingly juvenile part of the movie didn’t appeal to me. Even if you enjoy that kind of film, you won’t find anything in “Neighbors” you haven’t seen in dozens of other movies.
You will, however, notice more character work. Amidst the sometimes outlandish pranks the two sides play on each other, and the absurd fight during the climax of the movie, Teddy slowly begins to realize he’s wasted his college days, and he, too, needs to prepare for the next stage of his life. It’s a nice touch made even more resonant by Efron’s nuanced performance.
Should you see “Neighbors?” If you’re okay with drinking Half & Half, give it a shot. If not, avoid it like curdled milk.
Three stars out of four. Rated R for language, crude and sexual content, nudity, and drug use.