Neighbors 2014

Christy Lemire, ChristyLemire.com: The young married couple does something cruel, and then the idiot frat guys next door respond, and back and forth it goes. I laughed, but not uproariously and not often enough. Read more

Wesley Morris, Grantland: One of the great surprises of Neighbors is both the gentle way with which it handles a nimrod party animal like Teddy and how good Efron is at playing him. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: "Neighbors" seems to have originated in a butcher shop: It stars a slab of beef and features a whole lot of sausage jokes. To me it looks like a turkey, but it seems poised to bring home the bacon. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: The most shocking thing about the hard-R comedy "Neighbors" is that - surprise - it's actually rather endearing. Read more

Andrew Barker, Variety: Zac Efron gives one of his most credible and intriguing performances in this winningly stupid frat comedy. Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: Neighbors is a bit of a mess, neither outrageous nor thoughtful enough to compensate for its lack of narrative imagination. But the film is also not without its modest pleasures. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: "Neighbors" is not the classic raunchy comedy it wants to be, but it certainly isn't for lack of trying. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: "Neighbors" represents something of a watershed: the moment when all those Judd Apatow bad boys tremble on the edge of maturity, look back, and see the soulless face of a younger generation gaining on them. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: An energetic, hit-or-miss affair. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: One part smart, one part stupid and three parts jokes about body parts, the extremely raunchy "Neighbors" is a strange success story. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: It's gross, all right, but rarely funny -- unless jokes about alcohol-laced breast milk is your thing. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Unfortunately, concise comedy gives way to desperation less that halfway through, and we're left with the spectacle of adults embracing extreme immaturity just because they can. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: As as tensions escalate, Teddy and Peter's partnership proves just as central and perhaps more vulnerable than Mac and Kelly's. Score one for growing up. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: You laugh a lot. And you don't feel guilty for a second. Read more

Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com: The performances are solid. Rogen does his usual, husky-boy geek thing while Efron seems more comfortable as a dreamboat than as a doctor in last year's Parkland. It's the script that lets them down. Read more

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: It's a frat-house flick with more on its mind than beer, bongs, and beer bongs. It's also a razor-sharp commentary on desperately trying to remain carefree after the burdens of adulthood have taken over. Read more

Jordan Hoffman, Film.com: You'll laugh if you're young, you'll laugh if you're old. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: An uproarious and hugely commercial vision of intergenerational warfare. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: This raunchy unrooting of a settled suburban idyll exposes the considerable angst of emerging adulthood with a kind of scatological fervor designed to elicit oodles of inappropriate laughs. Read more

Amy Nicholson, L.A. Weekly: Byrne is the movie's MVP, thanks to a script that does what few comedies allow: let the wife earn some laughs. Read more

Tony Hicks, San Jose Mercury News: If you're looking for "Neighbors" to join "Animal House" in the annals of great frat house comedies, expect to be disappointed. "Neighbors" isn't even on par with "Revenge of the Nerds." Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Neighbors is rude, brazen and merrily offensive, and the movie mines the homoerotic undertones of fraternities to fine (if lowbrow) comic effect. But Efron, of all people, gives the film a curious edge. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: Though not as comedically energetic or culturally incisive as it could be, the movie squeaks by thanks to the camaraderie of an unlikely duo: Seth Rogen and Zac Efron. Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: It's a promising setup, but it gets frittered away-partly by narrative laziness (the involvement of other neighbors is dismissed out of hand) but mainly by a flaccid belief in the power of the gross-out. Read more

Mark Jenkins, NPR: [Brings its] raunchy scenario to a payoff that upholds the very middle-class values the movie gleefully profanes. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Rogen tries so hard to up the funny, riffing a million miles a minute, you worry that he's headed for a heart attack. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: A status report on mainstream American movie comedy, operating in a sweet spot between the friendly and the nasty, and not straining to be daring, obnoxious or even especially original. It knows how to have fun. How very grown-up. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: A movie about the unexamined and excruciating phenomenon of "neighbor noise" turns out to be mostly about party envy (and, yes, the other kind of envy, too). Read more

David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer: It's the most rollicking frat comedy since Revenge of the Nerds II. (Miss you, Booger.) Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: There's no doubt the filmmakers want to make us laugh but, in doing so, they also touch upon a theme that many older viewers will find familiar: the rite of passage from a college party animal to the responsible role of a father or mother. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: There's a lot of stupid stuff here, but I have to admit, some of that stupid stuff made me laugh hard. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: You expect hardcore hilarity from Neighbors, and you get it. It's the nuance that sneaks up on you. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: This is a funny movie in places, but it'll be a whole lot funnier in the YouTube remix that runs 11 or 12 minutes. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: When Rogen and Efron face off against each other, you feel that you're looking at two characters with everything on the line. It's funnier because it's more real. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: As a simple story of escalating sabotage, the piece can afford to be meandering and disjointed as long as there's a belly laugh every couple of minutes. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Neighbors" is a showcase for Rogen and a coming-out party for Byrne. It's a party where we want to stay, until we're dragged out kicking and screaming. Read more

Christopher Orr, The Atlantic: It's Apatow without the Apatow, all ornaments and no tree. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Rogen's always a dominating presence, but [Byrne], who showed her comic chops in Bridesmaids, comes close to stealing the movie here, in an uncorked performance full of volatile, liberating mischief. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Fortunately, Rogen and Byrne make for an appealingly frazzled and conflicted couple. Read more

Ashley Clark, Time Out: After a shaky start, Bad Neighbours blossoms, with inspired visual gags in excellent poor taste. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Neighbors is the Animal House for an era in which food fights seem quaint. Read more

Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press: At a certain point, the movie starts to feel like an extended "Saturday Night Live" skit, with not much concern for narrative progression. But few people will complain. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: Zac Efron isn't the best or even the most surprising thing about Neighbors, but he is perhaps the most exciting. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: "Neighbors" will no doubt reward audiences who demand little more than a few broad, easy laughs to be entertained, which, after all, describes most filmgoers these days. Read more