Neighbors

**Spoiler Alert*

Director: Nicholas Stoller, Starring; Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Rose Byrne, and Lisa Kudrow

Nicholas Stoller, director of Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek, now has the comedy Neighbors under his directorial belt.

Seth Rogen plays Mac Radner, a thirty-something father of a new baby who lives in a quiet neighborhood with his wife Kelly (Rose Byrne). Settling down but with collegiate frolics not far behind them, the Radners find themselves parents with adult priorities thrust upon them. Kelly's friend begs her to step out for an evening at a club concert, which involves marital negotiations with Mac. Not wanting to be homebound himself, Mac and Kelly decide to bring the baby along for their evening out. Mac and Kelly can't completely embrace the demands of adulthood; sometimes stumbling with their responsibilities as parents.

One day, while standing in their front yard, they become intrigued with the prospective home buyers next door. Anxious about possible noise, their fears are allayed when they see the buyers are gay. Days later, their hopes for a quiet neighborhood are dashed when they see a legion of young college students moving in next door rather than the hoped-for gay couple. In the clutches of one student' arms are greek letters to adorn the facade of a frathouse, which realizes the Radner's worst fears.

Summoning their diplomatic instincts, the Radners approach the frat's leader in their home in hopes of securing low-noise living. Mac and Kelly have an amusing discussion about how they will approach the frat leader, which of course doesn't go exactly as confidently planned. Frat president Teddy Sanders (Zac Efron) is every married man's nightmare; a sexually-threatening stud with an obscenely-defined torso and a young man's love for living in cacophanous chaos. The movie plays up the amusing contrast between the shlubby Rogen and Efron's renaissance, marble physique.

Not wanting to appear too grown-up and square, the Radner's offer Teddy some rolled joints in a gesture of good-will. Teddy and the frat vice-president Pete (Dave Franco; brother to James) welcome the couple and subsequently the Radners end up partying with the frat. In acceding to the Radner's noise-reduction request, Teddy makes an ominous, counter-request that the couple never call the police but instead approach him, to which they agree.

Of course it is absurd to ask a frat to "keep it down," which subsequent nights at the frat bear out. Mac and Kelly find their infant daughter can't sleep with the mayhem and racket next door, which prompts them to reluctantly call the police. They ask that the complaint remain anonymous but when they watch the officer confront Teddy and Pete on the lawn, the cop points specifically to their home. In a funny scene at their doorstep moments later, the officer, Teddy and Pete stand on the Radner's doorstep, inquiring about the complaint which the Radner's deny but the cop confirms when he mentions Mac's caller ID. Needless to say the neighborly detente quickly deteriorates, which leads to war between the frat and the Radner home.

The frat resorts to humiliation as a retaliatory tactic; trimming the Radner's hedge to resemble a sexually suggestive person bent over. In another scene, the Radner's ill-advisedly leave their curtains open to allow their love-making a frat audience. The Radner's don't remain passive. They damage the frat's water-pipe, which floods their basement--an act intended to tax the frat's budget and stimulate a shut-down, which is effective but ultimately fails.

The Radner's are forced to appeal to the unsympathetic, University Dean Carol Gladstone (a funny Lisa Kudrow) who refuses to penalize the organization for what she feels isn't a headline-grabbing infraction. The frat is eventually placed on probation, which paves the way for the Radner's elaborate plan to get the frat to resume its partying--an act that will get it shut-down--by faking a school letter with a bogus, probation-lifting message.

The film has its funny moments but they prove to be too few to really make Neighbors an enjoyable romp. Nevertheless, it manages to be very watchable. It certainly is a nice change of pace for Efron; on leave from seemingly endless teen-crush flicks. Here he plays the not-very bright leader whose sole objective is to earn a place of honor in frat lore by throwing a seismic party rather than plan for his post-college future. Though his dumbness is alarming, Efron is able to also make it funny. Rogen is an old pro at comedy but it's Byrne who distinguishes herself; having shown in Bridesmaids that being funny comes natural to her.

The theme of shedding one's youthful, carefree past and embracing the adult world not only applies to the Radner's but to Teddy and Pete. While Pete interviews with companies visiting the university, planning for the transition to the real world, Teddy is stuck in a college party holding pattern. When he approaches a representative from a company at a job fair, his mediocre grades fail to impress, thereby earning him an insulting, curt dismissal. The Radner's eventually realize that parenting and the grown-up world is where they want to be.

Neighbors has so much that I wanted to like more but its humor is infrequent and not always inspired. Another promising comedy threatens to spring to life then limps, then springs to life again...but mostly limps.