REVIEW: Bad Neighbours (2014, Dir. Nicholas Stoller)

There's a curling irony in the fact that I didn't enjoy Nicholas Stoller's Bad Neighbours as much as I was hoping to because I was all stressed out about my grown-up day job. If my head wasn't spinning with timelines, deadlines and morning meetings, I could have happily gotten lost amongst Zac Efron's intra-pack abdominal crevices. Unfortunately, I'm all nine-to-five mature and shit now.

I laughed. It would be hard not to. But I never got completely drawn into the ribald action, which pits Mac (Seth Rogan) and his newly new home-bound wife, Kelly (Rose Byrne) against Teddy (Efron) and Pete (Dave Franco), president and vice president of the raucous, beer chugging, penis obsessed fraternity that has just moved in next door. Basically, Bad Neighbours takes two of cinema's stalwarts, the frathouse comedy and the over-the-hill comedy and faces them off in a single riotously inappropriate, cringe-inducing joke-fest.

Stoller nails it on both scores and the mix of the two works a treat. His cast have a lot to do with that. Efron's twist on his regular nice guy persona is a bit of a shock after years of High School Musical but it is inspired casting. He still has that preened look but he does menacing well. Rose Byrne, who I'm no fan of, absolutely brings it in the comedy scenes. Working in her native accent she's a lot more at ease and she channels her tetchy energy hilariously. I don't think I've ever seen an actress submit herself to human woman milking with such dignity. Seth Rogan, who I usually can't get enough of, puts himself out there (and there is a lot of him to throw around) but he kind of gets lost in the mix.

There's no getting around the fact that the film makers have hedged their bets on this one but it has paid dividends. There's a solid balance to Bad Neighbours' brand of comedy. No matter who you most identify with (the bro-dudes or clutching-at-youth'ers), there's enough to laugh at and with. Stoller and his cast lambast their marks in increasingly amusing ways, yet they never lose sight of the tragedy of the situation. On both sides of the fence the desire to hold onto (or recapture) a moment in time hangs in the air and the film nudges that melancholia without ever having it dampen the laughs. It gives the film a nicely curt edge.

First time screenwriters, Andrew J. Cohen and Brendan O'Brien, bring a halting energy to the film. For much of its runtime, Bad Neighbours feels like little more than a bunch of sketches strung together. Thankfully the laughs are there (though perhaps not with the frequency that the film's marketing machine will have many hoping for), and as the film gathers momentum it starts to feel much more cohesive.

I will admit that there were more than a few dejected punters, post-screening, commenting that all the best bits were in the trailer. And yes, those from Bad Neighbours' younger demographic may well find that is the case, the frat scenes do have a lively comic energy (fuelled by bare-torso bro-loving, blacklight and dick jokes), but those watching the film from over the proverbial hill will find the scenes skewering the 30+ set land with considerably greater consistency. I did, at least.

Bad Neighbours is going to please a heap of people in its broad market push. And it deserves to. It has more than its fair share of laughs. Probably not enough to have it penciled in alongside the likes of Animal House but near enough in this day and age.

★★★

Trailer: