Picking a fight with a fraternity is a monumentally stupid idea. Far as I can tell, fraternal priorities are as follows (and in this order): getting laid, getting drunk, overcoming whatever insecurity brought members to the frat in the first place. Not unlike a militia, almost all frats contain disposable people, endless energy, and a questionable morality. If you care about anything or are fewer than twenty people, you are going to lose that battle.
Neighbors takes 2013’s awful kids v. short-tempered adults Project X-type stupidity to the next level. The films have nothing to do with one another; it’s just a convenient parallel. Instead of following the set of irresponsible jackasses, this time around we get the perspective of new parents/new homeowners Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly (Rose Byrne). The couple immediately sees the frat moving in next door as an issue, but instead tries to play it cool. This, of course, is a huge mistake. If you want the frat to keep noise levels down for your baby, you have to – HAH! Good luck with any strategy! You’re screwed. Anyway, Mac clearly envies frat prez Teddy (Zac Efron) and both he and Kelly see a frat next door and imagine they’re back in college, not at odds with kids … not yet, at least.
When they get invited to the first frat party, well, I wouldn’t call it exactly “shaking hands with The Devil,” but it sure ain’t smart, and this twee bit of hypocrisy makes it impossible for the fogies to get the police on their side. “Um, you party with them one night and then suddenly it’s not ok on night #2?” Yeah, good luck with that. Given explicit instructions from Teddy to go through frat channels before police channels for any noise complaint, Mac fails and thus invites a world of pain into his life.
The rivalry begins with the entire frat celebrating a Robert DeNiro themed party which is a pretty hilarious way to introduce a rivalry. Pete (Dave Franco) is especially good as “Focker DeNiro.” The antagonism is a cornucopia of mixed bag material all over the humor spectrum. I love the frat guys stealing the couple’s air bags and reinstalling them on house furniture (better make sure there’s no baby involved; that a lawsuit, boys!); I also laughed out loud at several jokes Rogen makes at the expense of Byrne’s engorged 
breasts. Ex. “We’re going ‘mom tipping’ later.” The frat hijinks then include a huge miss when the fellas combat a plumbing bill (courtesy of Mac busting their pipe) by having their version of a bake sale – making plaster casts of their erect penises and selling the dildos. The risqué of a room full of “men” nude in the southerly direction with industrial size beakers shielding their alpha upsilons contrasts the wisdom of the plot point. This is a money maker? Really? Only in the movies would a set of frat dildos make back the initial investment, much less a $10k plumbing bill. But, hey, butts.
I’d love to see a study of the role of fraternities in cinema. We’re thirty-six years removed from Animal House, where the rowdy, undisciplined frat was treated as heroic. The frat boys here are definitely presented as villains. We see their charms; we don’t want them hurt, but we do want them to go away. The European interpretation of this film is entitled “Bad Neighbors,” although that makes it unclear as to which set are the bad neighbors. –I love the distinction there, btw, in Europe, these are examples of being a bad neighbor while in the United States, this is being a neighbor. Strictly speaking, both are bad neighbors – but you’re gonna side with the underdog.
A fight to the frat Seth is bringing
To keep late night ears from ringing
A solution I’ve found
To keep low the sound
Hey Zac, when did you stop singing?
Rated R, 96 Minutes
D: Nicholas Stoller
W: Andrew J. Cohen, Brendan O’Brien
Genre: David v. Delta Sigma Goliath
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Strangely enough, frat guys
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: People who have never had to deal with a random unsolvable inconvenience
