Bad Neighbours
Starring: Seth Rogan, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron, Dave Franco
Directed By: Nicholas Stoller
Reviewed by Danielle Muir

[rating: 3.5/5]

It was a matter of time before director Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him To The Greek) and Seth Rogan joined forces.  Both at the top of their comedic game, their collaboration on Bad Neighbours could’ve made it the comedy of the year.

And to be fair, it does deliver on the laughs – there are some truly hilarious (and cringe worthy) moments of physical comedy and it pokes fun at the ‘new parents’ phase of life, but the film begs the afterthought that perhaps these ringleaders of American comedy are becoming a little too comfortable on their thrones.

The films premise is brilliant – Kelly (Byrne, a comedic revelation in recent years) and Mac Radner (Rogan) are finding their feet as new parents to adorable little Stella.  Kelly’s feeling the cabin-fever as a stay-at-home-mum, while Mac works the 9-5 office job. Safe to say, they’re both coming to terms that their lives are officially over.  The arrival of a frat-house next door headed up by the arrogant Teddy Sanders (Efron) sparks a war, as the frats refuse to ‘turn down’ the noise to a level conducive for a babies sleep.

There are some crazy events in this film (this is a Seth Rogan film – it’s to be expected) that really do bring the laughs – a crazy, fluoro tainted house party sees Rogan and Efron engage in a wobbly dance-off, Rose Byrne is generally hilarious as the half-crazy house mum who gets the chance to let her wild side loose once more, and the combination of mid-life crisis vs. randy uni students works well.  However, the film’s schemes do become tedious when trap after trap falls flat, allowing the frat to continue partying.  By the final blow you’re begging that one of them gets kicked out of the house, just to end the shenanigans.

That said, there is a load of fun to be had with Bad Neighbours – if you liked This Is The End, then this will be a winner.  The horribly cringe worthy moments are the most memorable (Mac and Kelly trying to ‘relate’ to the children made this reviewer want to crawl under her chair and die).  And the digs at the ‘joys’ of parenthood will strike a chord with many.  But it is another Rogan sex, drugs and stress comedy and I think they’ll need to shake things up for the next one, as the formula’s getting a little worn.