Bad Neighbours

What do you do if the neighbours won’t keep the noise down? New parents Mac (Rogen) and Kelly Radner (Byrne) are faced with this problem in Nicholas Stoller’s latest comedy, as their quiet suburban life is upset when a party-loving fraternity moves in next door. Though both households reach an agreement, relations soon deteriorate and the Radners find themselves waging war with frat president Teddy (Efron) and his booze-chugging brotherhood.

The main problem with the various pranks that follow is that they generate few laughs. There are one or two amusing lines ("He looks like something a gay guy designed in a laboratory!" states Mac after seeing Teddy), but in general the improv-heavy exchanges are hit-and-miss. While Efron is perfectly cast as the unfeasibly chiselled frat king, the film’s most interesting thread — Teddy’s dawning realisation that his post-college prospects aren’t great — is the element that receives the least attention. [Stephen Carty]