‘Neighbors’ Review: An Amusing Representation of American Culture By Enrquie Pedraza “Neighbors” perfectly represents the American Culture in its cinematic value and content. There are a couple of spontaneous laughs throughout, mostly coming from the interaction between actors Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne as an infectious and ridiculously waggish couple that are trying to adapt to suburbia along with their first baby. The characters are irresponsible enough to provide the film with lots of humorous jiffies, particularly coming from the visually appealing party scenes where the neon lighting and the overload of alcohol and destructive behavior, should attract massive audiences. Rogen (Mac) and Ms. Byrne (Kelly) play a couple that recently moved to a new house in a quiet, residential neighborhood. They are about to experience their idealized version of parenthood as they try to revive their sex life. This is all disrupted by their new neighbors, the Delta Psi Beta fraternity, a group led by Teddy (Zac Efron) and Pete (Dave Franco) When the couple realizes that their quiet nights are all gone, they decide to introduce themselves to the frats in a younger fashion, wearing colored sunglasses and hats, trying to fit in with the party monsters. After a loud, druggy party that night, Mac and Kelly decide to call the police during their second bash, becoming the inciting incident for the Delta fraternity to take revenge through a series of unfortunate events which are quite amusing. The best one: The sudden explosion of airbags making people fly up high in a flash. The members of the Delta gang are essentially bullies with little intellectual aspirations but lots of adrenaline wasted in pathetic, over the top parties that are enchanting to watch. Only Pete, who wears glasses sometimes, seems to be living a transitory lifestyle that will hopefully be over after graduation. But Teddy has no hope for a bright career. He wants to desperately be remembered as the king of all fraternities and hopes his picture gets hanged on the wall along with past fraternity paraphernalia. The funnier moments really come from Rogen and Byrne talking to each other, trying to figure out how to destroy Delta so they can go back to their faultless, peaceful lifestyle. They both have very intense, almost suffocating personalities submerged in desperation and anxiousness, resulting in malevolent, juvenile plans that offer great excitement. Coming from a huge studio, “Neighbors” lends itself to be slightly more stimulating than other similar films from the system. Nicholas Stoller’s latest effort blends nicely with a particular group of comedies that are emerging today. They are those that try to go beyond just telling their silly stories and instead, try to invent ways to speak visually the way movies like “Spring Breakers” did (a far more superior film but a role model for filmmakers fascinated with the current youth) as well as some of Judd Apatow’s work. “Neighbors” has not much to offer intellectually but it doesn’t feel superfluously raunchy or stupid as many American comedies feel. It is a movie that benefits from simply wanting to fabricate a world that current American culture craves, one full of hot bodies, techno music and lots of red cups. What’s wrong with that? After all, it is all part of our lives one way or another. But the beautiful thing about someone’s freedom to choose is that you can just avoid banal representations of the human experience and opt to watch films that are a bit more provocative and challenging. “Neighbors” is in theaters nationwide this Friday, May 9.
