Ed's Review Dot Com

Alcove Entertainment, Attercop Productions, British Film Institute (BFI),

Jesse Eisenberg, Mia Wasikowska, Wallace Shawn, Noah Taylor, Yasmin Paige, James Fox, Cathy Moriarty, Phyllis Somerville, Sally Hawkins, Chris O’Dowd, Craig Roberts

Simon (Jesse Eisenberg) is an employee in an office who is invisible to everyone. No one notices him, especially the girl he likes, Hannah (Mia Wasikowska). Nobody pays any attention to him, and he gets no credit for what he does. Suddenly a new employee, James (Jesse Eisenberg) shows up to work, and he’s an identical physical copy of Simon, but very smooth, great personality, and a hit with the girls. James makes Simon do all the work, but takes all the credit which drives Simon nuts. He can seem to tolerate all the abuse and all the negative energy around him, except for James who he just can’t stand, although he can’t seem to make anyone see that James is a fraud, as they all like James so much.

It has been a hard week for Ed’s Review. Either I have been in a bad mood, or the new DVD’s just haven’t been very good lately. This was, I think, the lamest of the bunch. I don’t have anything against Jesse Eisenberg but what they made this movie for is hard for me to understand. Someone called this film the poor man’s Fight Club, which is probably not a bad description, but at least Fight Club has some sort of purpose. There wasn’t anything that made any sense in this film. I am not sure what they were going after, but unfortunately it was all really silly. They may have been going for something really deep, but it didn’t gel in the least for me. I found myself wanting out all the way through this film. I thought if I stuck it out, there may be some payout in the end, but there wasn’t anything worth waiting for. This is one of the dumbest movies I’ve seen all year, and I’d suggest you avoid this one like the plague. This was a waste of a good cast and another missed opportunity to create something meaningful.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Good Universe, Point Grey Pictures,

Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Rose Byrne, Dave Franco, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Lisa Kudrow, Craig Roberts, Ike Barinholtz, Jake Johnson, Hannibal Buress, Carla Gallo, Halston Sage

Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly Radner (Rose Byrne) are a newlywed couple with a daughter. They live in a simple suburban home. The house next door is up for sale, and they take a lot of interest to see who the new neighbors will be, but when the guys from the fraternity move in and turn it into a frat house led by fraternity president Teddy Sanders (Zac Efron), things go from bad to worse to worst. They party all night, with loud music that keep everyone awake. At first Mac and Kelly try to be friendly with the boys and try to party with them to make friends and get their cooperation, but when that fails, they start escalating a war with the frat that spirals WAY out of control.

This is a hilarious comedy reminiscent of the old great comedies of long ago. It’s modern and fresh, and unique twist, but the gags run from slapstick to up to date technology gags that are right out of the pages of today’s college kids. To make it even more enjoyable, I have a bit of a story to tell.

We went up for Mother’s Day to UC Santa Barbara. My daughter had to work for a while, so my wife and I went to the theater closest to the school to watch a movie. The timing was wrong for everything else, but Neighbors was coming on at 8:15, so we chose it. We figured a Seth Rogen film would be a few laughs. The theater ended up packed, every seat full, all 20ish college kids. We were the only old people in the theater. Since I work in the IT field, I am up to date on new technology and so I got the jokes. But the frat jokes in particular, especially with the way things are today with the latest web sites and communication devices was especially funny to the young people because they obviously got all the jokes. I imagined watching this back at home in a theater full of adults with many of the jokes just going over their heads. Not this crowd. It was really interesting to see which gags cracked them up and compare to what it would be like seeing this without the theater filled with students. Anyway, needless to say, unlike the teens we often see at home, with the theater packed, the crowd was very respectful, quiet with no one texting or making phone calls and laughing at the right places. Though we were crowded, it was a really enjoyable experience.

Now back to the film. This is the kind of role that fits Seth Rogen perfectly. He plays the kid who’s grown up now and realizing that he needs to take some responsibility, but dropping back into his youth to party with the frat and play childish pranks trying to outdo each other. New parents have the problem of their close friends from the past living a wild and free single lifestyle when they have a child and a job and too much to do. The frat house next door, though a curse, also is a chance to step back into their younger days. The comedy is really good, the jokes are non-stop, and it’s a randy adult comedy that doesn’t let up. I really enjoyed this film and recommend it for comedy fans everywhere.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog