Here’s the low-down on this new comedy. Bad Neighbours is as juvenile as it is hilarious. There’s little pretention towards sophistication or intelligence here, but for those who are willing to withstand the toilet humour, or for those who heartily endorse frat house humour—the film offers a truly great laugh.
By Keeva Stratton
New parents Kelly (Rose Byrne) and Mac (Seth Rogan) are trying desperately to balance parenthood with staying young and hip, when the house next door is sold to a college fraternity.
Not wanting to be seen as bores, but also keen to get as much sleep as possible, they decide to introduce themselves to the fraternity, lead by Teddy (Zac Efron). They even attend their first party (with baby monitor at hand), and find themselves enjoying this reinvigorating youthful moment with abandon.
Kelly and Mac think that by being nice, they can maintain the peace in their neighbourhood. To their chagrin, they soon realise their mistake. Two nights in, and two very serious parties later—they call the police on their new neighbours, starting a war.
As their house value is halved by its new proximity to a frat house, Kelly and Mac are forced to stay and strike back; doing all they can to infiltrate the frat and turn them against each other, until they implode. But, of course, winning won’t be easy.
Byrne and Rogen are wonderful, showing off their well-honed comedic skills as new parents desperately clinging to their cool—a story that many in their early thirties will no doubt easily relate to. Efron manages to simultaneously move on from and parody his High School Musical years, and largely without a shirt!
If you enjoyed the shamelessly crude comedies of the Hangover and Horrible Bosses ilk, you will openly welcome Bad Neighbours. I’m not ashamed to admit I laughed hard—and you probably will, too.
Directed by: Nicholas Stollar
Starring: Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron
Rating: R
Runtime: 96 min
Release Date: May 8
Reviewer rating: 4/5
