Film of the Week: Bad Neighbours

With the sequel “Bad Neighbours 2: Sorority Rising” now in cinemas, I thought I would give my opinion on the first one, and to put it simply, I like it. It’s an R-rated film, so it’s going to have those moments that may not sit comfortably in the family-friendly category, but nevertheless it’s a fun, entertaining comedy.

Seth Rogen stars as Mac and Rose Byrne as Kelly Radner, a young couple with a newborn daughter, Stella. They’re not breaking from the stress of parenthood, but they are coming to terms with what needs to be done, and what cannot be done, such as spending as much time as they were with friends. They live in a quiet and peaceful neighbourhood, which is perfect for raising a family, but that all changes when a fraternity moves into the house next door, and the two leaders, Teddy Sanders, played by Zac Efron, and Pete Ragazolli, played by Dave Franco, aim to put their names into the hall of fame for fraternities.

During the first night of partying, Stella cannot sleep, so Mac goes over to ask Teddy if he could keep the noise down, which he agrees but only if they make the promise of always calling him first before the Police. It’s a pretty reasonable request, so the couple makes the promise and all is well. But come the second night, when the party is even louder than last nights, Mac is unable to contact Teddy. Kelly convinces Mac to make an anonymous call to the Police, which he does but the Police officers who come to control the situation immediately outs Mac and Kelly.

This is when the two sides are formed. Teddy is furious that Mac and Kelly went against their promise. In response to this, the fraternity dumps nearly all their trash on Mac and Kelly’s front garden. This is when it gets personal from the couple, and they begin scheming plans in order to break up the fraternity. An all-out war between the two houses begins.

I saw the first sample clip when I was watching The Graham Norton Show one Friday night on BBC 1, and even though it’s supposed to set up some questions, and show as much of the film as possible without actually giving too much away, but upon seeing it, I didn’t really know what to make of it. It certainly intrigued me, but it did look like something I may not be that interested in.

When I had the chance, I sat down and watched it, and I have to be honest, I was surprised. As I said before, it was a fun and entertaining comedy. Seth Rogan and Rose Byrne’s character’s chemistry was a delight to see, which meant they were able to portray good parents respectfully. Throughout the film, they remained good parents, and I think that was a nice element to see in amongst the war between the two houses. All they want to do is create a nice atmosphere so that their daughter, Stella, can sleep. Is that really too much to ask?

On to the fraternity itself. Now, I live in England, we don’t have fraternities, and when we do, they’re just a simple get together and nothing more, they are never anything like actual fraternities. I have no idea just how big fraternities get over in America, but I can’t shake off the obviousness that the film’s version was just a tad over the top to really cement the fact that they are annoying the neighbours next door.

Teddy and Pete wants to go out with a bang, and they will stop at nothing to make sure they are remembered for many years to come.

Zac Efron’s breakthrough role that made a name for himself was when he stared in the series of hit films, Highschool Musical. After that, he was staring in plenty of family-friendly/kid-friendly films, which only continued to cement his image as being a “Disney kid”. It can be hard to break away from that, but in this film Zac proves to us that he is perfectly capable of doing just that. This is an R-rated film, so it does have moments that are definitely not for kids. Zac’s performance throughout the film as someone who just wants to be remembered when he leaves university is unbroken throughout, which makes you feel as if his actions are sort of justified, but you know that they aren’t, because of the commotion the fraternity is causing.

Overall I recommend this film. It’s consistent, funny, and surprises us; Zac’s and Seth’s performance, when they are on screen together, makes for a delightful moment.

I can’t really end this review without giving some words to its sequel. I haven’t seen the sequel so I won’t be giving a review on it, but I will say this. It is understandable to say that, with a sorority moving next door – a female fraternity – it is going to be the exact same film all over again, but I have to disagree. It won’t be exactly the same film, but it will have elements that can be compared to the first, almost exactly, but does that really matter? If the first film has taught me anything, it has taught me that the formula works, and I would like to see more of it. Everybody’s performance throughout the film is practically faultless, and to revisit that I know I would be in for another fun and joyous ride. Plus, at the end of the first film, Mac and Kelly have accepted parenthood after experiencing what their life used to be like, so with that development already in place, I would like to see what lessons they’ve learnt this time round. Plus, Teddy is back but acting on the good side, so you’ve got an experienced person helping with the scheming, so seeing what plans they come up with this time round, is going to be just as entertaining as before.

Thanks for Reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)