Neighbors (released as Bad Neighbours outside North America) is a 2014 American comedy film, directed by Nicholas Stoller and written by Andrew Cohen and Brendan O'Brien. The film stars Seth Rogen and Zac Efron, with Rose Byrne, Dave Franco, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. The film was released in the United States on May 9, 2014 to positive reviews and grossed over $268 million against a budget of $18 million.
Plot
Mac and Kelly Radner are a young couple with a newborn daughter. The restrictions of parenthood make it difficult for them to maintain their old lifestyle, which alienates them from their friends Jimmy Blevins and his ex-wife, Paula. One day, the couple finds out that Delta Psi Beta, a fraternity known for their outrageous parties, has moved into an adjacent house. The fraternity's leaders, Teddy Sanders and Pete Regazolli, aspire to join Delta Psi's Hall of Fame by throwing a massive end-of-the-year party.
One night, the couple ask Teddy to keep the noise down. Teddy agrees on the condition that Mac and Kelly always call him instead of calling the police. To earn Mac and Kelly's favor, Teddy invites them to join the party, which the couple agree to. At the party, Kelly meets Teddy's girlfriend, Brooke Shy, and Teddy shows Mac his bedroom, which includes a stash of fireworks and a breaker box that controls their power.
The following night, Mac is unable to get in touch with Teddy to ask him to keep it down. Kelly convinces Mac to call the police, but Officer Watkins identifies them to Teddy. The following day, Delta Psi constantly hazes Mac and Kelly. The couple goes to the college dean, Carol Gladstone, and learn that the school has a three strikes policy; burning down their old house was Delta Psi's first strike.
After failing to force the fraternity to move by damaging their house, Kelly manipulates Pete and Brooke into having sex and Mac gets Teddy to catch them. Teddy and Pete fight, which ends with a barbecue grill being rolled into the path of a passing car and injuring a professor, giving Delta Psi their second strike. To acquire evidence of Delta Psi's hazing, Kelly and Mac hire a pledge to stand up to Teddy to record him threatening retaliation. When Teddy instead shows him kindness, he reveals that Mac and Kelly hired him and also damaged their house. Teddy begins playing violent pranks on the couple.
Mac and Kelly send Teddy a counterfeit letter from Gladstone enabling them to have parties again, and Teddy begins planning their end-of-the-year bash. Once the party is in full swing, the Radners call Watkins to complain about the noise. Teddy discovers the random strangers sent by Mac, Kelly and Jimmy. After finding a flyer about the party and determining the letter is counterfeit, he stops the party just as Watkins arrives. Jimmy throws himself from the balcony to distract Teddy, allowing Mac and Kelly to sneak into Teddy's bedroom and restart the party using the breaker box. Teddy catches them and fights Mac, while Kelly lights one of the fireworks and shoots it at Watkins's patrol car. Teddy takes the blame for the party and convinces Pete to take the others and flee. Gladstone shuts the house down and Mac and Kelly return home, adjusting to their new lives.
Four months later, Mac is at an outdoor shopping mall when he runs into Teddy, who is working as a shirtless greeter at Abercrombie & Fitch. The two greet each other warmly and Teddy tells Mac that he is attending night classes to complete his degree. Mac takes off his shirt and jokingly acts as a greeter with Teddy.
Mac and Kelly later take pictures of Stella dressed in various costumes for a calendar. They get a call from Jimmy and Paula, who are attending a wild party and invite the couple to come, including Stella. Mac and Kelly decline, accepting their new roles as parents.
Cast
- Seth Rogen as Mac Radner
- Zac Efron as Teddy Sanders
- Rose Byrne as Kelly Radner
- Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Scoonie
- Dave Franco as Pete Regazolli
- Jerrod Carmichael as Garf
- Ike Barinholtz as Jimmy Blevins
- Carla Gallo as Paula Faldt
- Lisa Kudrow as Dean Carol Gladstone
- Craig Roberts as Assjuice
- Hannibal Buress as Officer Watkins
- Halston Sage as Brooke Shy
- Ali Cobrin as Whitney
- Jason Mantzoukas as Dr. Theodorakis
- Elise and Zoey Vargas as Stella Radner
- Brian Huskey as Bill Wazowkowski, Mac's boss
Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone, Adam DeVine, Blake Anderson, Anders Holm, Kyle Newacheck, Keith Cashin, and Jake Johnson all have cameo appearances as past Delta Psi members.
Production
Seth Rogen and Zac Efron became attached to the film before it was pitched to studios. Universal and New Line Cinema put in bids for the film, with Universal eventually securing the rights of the then-untitled project in July 2011, which was written by Andrew Cohen and Brendan O'Brien. The script was written shortly after. It was inspired by Cohen and O'Brien's fear of adulthood. In May 2012, Nicholas Stoller was in talks to direct the film. The story was originally about Rogen's character and students in a frat but as it was too similar to Old School, Stoller changed the focus on Rogen's character and his wife against the frat students. Producer Evan Goldberg said: "The initial idea was frat war with Zac Efron. Maybe Seth, but definitely Zac Efron." Byrne's role grew from a footnote relegated to the responsibilities of adulthood to a full-on partner-in-crime. Cohen also said: "Initially, our biggest problem with the script was that it was too repetitious, and amping up Kelly’s involvement and bringing her into the war broke everything wide open." Rogen welcomed the change, "to me that made it even better because it became less about me and some guys fucking with a frat. It was much more about me and my wife, which was way more interesting." The cast and crew had two weeks of rehearsals during which they practised improvisation.
Principal photography began in April 2013 and was completed by the end of May 2013 in Los Angeles, United States. Filming lasted 38 days. The two houses used in the film are situated in the West Adams District of Los Angeles.
Mintz-Plasse used a prosthetic penis.
Cameras and iPhones were distributed to extras, partygoers, and cast members for additional first-person perspective.
On August 26, 2013, the film's original title Townies was changed to Neighbors. The film was released as "Bad Neighbours" outside of North America, to prevent confusion with the similarly titled Australian soap opera.
The film was screened on March 8, 2014 at The Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas as a "work-in-progress" during South by Southwest.
Reception
Critical response
Neighbors received generally positive reviews. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 73% rating, with an average score of 6.3/10, based on reviews from 198 critics. The site's consensus states: "With plenty of bawdy humor evenly spread between its well-matched stars, Neighbors earns its R ratingâ€"and filmgoers laughs." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 68 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Critics praised Efron's performance, and noted that he had successfully shed the "Disney kid" pretty boy stereotype.
Box office
The film grossed $49,033,915 in its opening weekend in North America, finishing the weekend in first place. The opening total was the third highest United States opening for a non-sequel R-rated comedy behind Sex and the City ($57,038,404) and Ted ($54,415,205).
As of September 1, 2014, the film has grossed $150,086,800 in the United States and Canada and $118,000,000 in other territories, for a worldwide total gross of $268,086,800. It is Rogen's highest grossing non-animated film, surpassing Knocked Up ($219,076,518).
Accolades
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was released as a digital download in the US on April 29, 2014, and in the UK on May 12, 2014.
References
External links
- Official website
- Neighbors at the Internet Movie Database
- Neighbors at Box Office Mojo
- Neighbors at Rotten Tomatoes
- Neighbors at Metacritic
