Neighbors

Though Nicholas Stoller’s shortest movie to date, Neighbors is as unfocused and undisciplined as anything within the director’s seriously erratic filmography – with the movie’s affable first half giving way to a final half hour that’s nothing short of interminable. The narrative follows married couple Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly (Rose Byrne) as their peaceful existence is shattered by the arrival of a frat house next door, with Mac and Kelly’s increasing exasperation with the situation eventually paving the way for an all-out war between the two residences. It’s a familiar yet workable premise that is, at the outset, employed to exceedingly entertaining effect, as Stoller, working from a screenplay by Andrew J. Cohen and Brendan O’Brien, establishes an agreeably loose atmosphere that’s heightened by several laugh-out-loud moments and a series of charismatic performances. (Rogen and Byrne’s chemistry together is certainly palpable, while Zac Efron, cast as the frat house’s smug leader, more than holds his own against his comedically experienced costars.) There does reach a point, however, at which Neighbors begins to aggressively run out of steam, with the film’s second half adopting exactly the sort of lackadaisical feel that’s plagued most of Stoller’s output – as the focus shifts to the various problems experienced by both sides of the battle. It’s just not interesting, ultimately, and it is, as a result, more and more difficult to work up any enthusiasm for the climactic blow-out – which finally does confirm Neighbors‘ place as yet another sporadically hilarious yet hopelessly uneven comedy from Stoller.

** out of ****