Review: Bad Neighbours

Year: 2014
Director: Nicholas Stroller
Screenplay: Andrew J. Cohen, Brendan O'Brien
Starring: Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Rose Byrne, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Dave Franco

Synopsis is here:

If you squint a bit, you could possibly imagine Bad Neighbors (Neighbors in the U.S) as a sequel to 2008's Knocked Up. The appearance of Seth Rogen; here as stoned, nearly adult trying to cope with becoming a father and getting a little older, feels like an accurate continuation point for the comedian. Despite not being written by Rogen, Bad Neighbors harbors the same loosey goosey style that we've come to expect when have when Rogen appears on screen. Yet Bad Neighbours would appeal to me more if it simply had more focus. After This is the End (2013), I'm really starting to miss actual jokes.

Bed Neighbors may have a screenplay credited to two people, yet the film still gravitates towards shiftless improvisation which slowly becomes more tiresome as the film wears on. Stroller is more than willing to let scenes drift into unamusing and jarring dreariness as you realise the actors are trying too hard with their ad-libbing. The stoner references and the college party hijinks still have a certain allure to me, I guess (the film handles itself better than, say Project X), yet watching Zac Efron and Dave Franco push a "bros before hoes" sequence until it fizzles to an unfunny puddle is generally not needed. A shame as Franco has great comic presence, while Eforn shines brightest in the film as a whole.

The film is sporadically amusing, with some of the (actual) jokes and quips actually striking quite hard on my funny bone. The airbag sequence from the films marketing spots still made me laugh out loud in the cinema, while the Robert De Niro party appeals to the film nerd in me. As does the use of Batman actors to show the gap in two side's ages. There's a small amount of quirky moments that kept me from doing what I witnessed a couple do halfway through – walk out.

That said, I found myself more interested in which role we could see Zac Efron play next. He has a right amount of charm and presence to play an effective sociopath. The fact that I was more interested in Efron's future than the cheap gags he was performing on screen, says to me that the film just wasn't doing its job to it's full potential.

Review: This is the End

Year: 2013

Director: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg

Screenplay: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg

Starring: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson

Synopsis is here

With This is the End I’m really at a loss. I’m not sure if it’s the cast's slow crawl to irrelevance, a weak grip on the material or my successful humour transplant. But it’s safe to say that I found this directorial début from Superbad’s Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg to be something of wasted opportunity, in more ways than one.

While not completely without charm and with a better, kinder head on its shoulders than one or two of its American comedy counterparts (See The Hangover Sequels). This apocalyptic comedy suffers from weakly scripted gags and the now typical pop culture references which date the movie quicker than one would want. The film reeks of the semi-improv chicanery that is affecting so much mainstream American comedy.  I know it sounds wrong but sometimes structure, even in comedy, is nice.

It's mildly fun to see these guys poke fun at themselves (Franco as an ignorant celebrity ass is a decent idea), and one or two cameos are chucklesome. Yet so much of the film, too much, dies on its backside. Mostly because the main conflict (that Jay Baruchel dislikes how L.A has changed his best friend Seth Rogen) is poorly utilised, despite being an interesting concept. I found myself waiting for any moment Danny McBride takes the film by the scuff of the neck. He affects the film the same way Stevie Gerrard (Google it non football fans) would take hold of a Cup Final in his prime.

Weed smoking plays a large part of the humour, but it’s often like watching someone else play a video game. Unless you're involved, it doesn't feel as fun. Too often I felt like the designated driver having to maintain while the popular kids have a kick ass time at the back of my borrowed car. They're having a blast and sometimes I'm involved. In the end however they leave the vehicle in a mess. For male bonding laughs during the end of the world, you may want to seek out The World’s End.