Neighbors

Plot synopsis:
Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly Radner (Rose Byrne) are a young couple with an infant daughter, Stella. The restrictions of parenthood make it difficult for them to maintain their old lifestyle, which alienates them from their friends Jimmy Blevins (Ike Barinholtz) and his ex-wife, Paula (Carla Gallo). One day, the couple finds out that Delta Psi Beta, a fraternity known for their outrageous parties, has moved into an adjacent house. The fraternity's leaders, Teddy Sanders (Zac Efron) and Pete Regazolli (Dave Franco), aspire to join Delta Psi's Hall of Fame by throwing a massive end-of-the-year party.
One night, the couple ask Teddy to keep the noise down. Teddy agrees on the condition that Mac and Kelly promise to always call him instead of calling the police. To earn Mac and Kelly's favor, Teddy invites them to join the party, which the couple agree to. At the party, Kelly meets Teddy's girlfriend Brooke Shy (Halston Sage) and Teddy shows Mac his bedroom, which includes a stash of fireworks and a breaker box that controls their power.
The following night, Mac tries his best to call Teddy but is unable to get in touch with him to ask him to keep it down so that their baby can sleep. Kelly convinces Mac to call the police and report the party as an anonymous person, but Officer Watkins (Hannibal Buress) identifies them to Teddy. Teddy feels betrayed that his new friends went back on their promise. The following day, Delta Psi constantly hazes Mac and Kelly, resulting in Stella nearly eating an unused condom after garbage from their party trash is dumped all over their lawn. The couple goes to the college dean Carol Gladstone (Lisa Kudrow) and learn that the school has a three strikes policy before they intervene with punishment; burning down their old house was Delta Psi's first strike.
After failing to force the fraternity to move by damaging their house, Kelly manipulates Pete and Brooke into having sex and Mac gets Teddy to catch them. Teddy and Pete fight, which ends with a barbecue grill being rolled into the path of a passing car and injuring a professor, giving Delta Psi their second strike and placing the fraternity on probation for the remainder of the year, effectively ending their party plans. To acquire evidence of Delta Psi's hazing, Kelly and Mac hire a pledge nicknamed Assjuice (Craig Roberts) to stand up to Teddy to record him threatening retaliation. When Teddy instead shows him kindness, he reveals that Mac and Kelly hired him and also damaged their house. Teddy begins playing violent pranks on the couple.
Mac and Kelly send Teddy a counterfeit letter from Gladstone enabling them to have parties again, and Teddy begins planning their end-of-the-year bash. Once the party is in full swing, the Radners call Watkins to complain about the noise. Teddy discovers the random strangers sent by Mac, Kelly and Jimmy. After finding a flyer about the party and determining the letter is counterfeit, he stops the party just as Watkins arrives. Jimmy throws himself from the balcony to distract Teddy, allowing Mac and Kelly to sneak into Teddy's bedroom and restart the party using the breaker box. Teddy catches them and fights Mac, while Kelly lights one of the fireworks and shoots it at Watkins's patrol car, while Paula convinces one of the Frat boys to turn the breaker box, resuming the huge party while the police officer is still there. Teddy takes the blame for the party and convinces Pete to take the others and flee. Gladstone shuts the house down and Mac and Kelly return home, adjusting to their new lives. Jimmy and Paula also get back together.
Four months later, Mac is at an outdoor shopping mall when he runs into Teddy, who is working as a shirtless greeter at Abercrombie & Fitch. The two greet each other warmly and Teddy tells Mac that he is attending night classes to complete his degree. Mac takes off his shirt and jokingly acts as a greeter with Teddy.
Mac and Kelly later take pictures of Stella dressed in various costumes for a calendar. They get a call from Jimmy and Paula, who are attending Burning Man and invite the couple to come, including Stella. Mac and Kelly decline, accepting their new roles as parents.

Tags: cult

Review:
Belushi and Aykroyd team up for a dark comedy unlike any I've seen.Earl (Belushi) is quietly living his life in the suburbs with his wife and daughter, but it takes a decided turn for the worse  when a lunatic (Aykroyd) and his wife move in next door.Earl's life is turned into a nonsensical nightmare by the new couple; Vic tells nonstop lies about everything including whether his 'home-made' spaghetti sauce came from a jar and if the spaghetti is from a non-existent Italian restaurant while his wife Ramona (Cathy Moriarty) alternately seduces and blackmails Earl.
Particularly funny is the segment in which Earl tries to sneak out in the middle of the night for a rendezvous with Ramona, only to be caught by Vic, who is awake, on his rooftop, and wearing scuba gear.I didn't really care for this movie the first time I saw it, because almost nothing made any sense.
My memories of real youth, like from five to ten years old are completely blurred for the most part but for some reason I remember watching John Belushi movies.
Unfortunately, Belushi, near the end of his life, was being pigeon-holed as a crass, boorish "wild man" of comedy, mostly due to his turns in "National Lampoon's Animal House" and "1941."  However, he was a fine comedic actor capable of great subtlety and fine nuance, which is why he consciously chose the role he did (the film was originally conceived with John in the role of Vic).
not a mainstream comedy by any means This movie fails on nearly every front but has 2 things going for it, the cast, its an almost forgotten piece of Ackroyd and Belushi in their prime, secondly its off kilter pace and atmosphere, these alone are enough to give it a place in my collection.If your not into either of the above then give this a wide berth as its sure to disappoint.
It is absolutely brilliant.A cruel, mean-spirited world view is loose in this classic, a relentless assault on one man's senses that marked John Belushi's final screen appearance...
Cathy Moriarty, as Ackroyd's tempestuous wife, is a revelation as she toys with Belushi's raw emotions.Director John Avildsen chose to shoot this comedy like a sitcom and his choice proves to be the correct one.It's brilliance on a stick for specialized tastes..
Probably the most underrated comedy of the 1980s.This film captures the desperate isolation of Earl (Belushi) and Enid (Kathryn Walker) Keese, two deadpan suburbanites who barely have any feelings left due to the changelessness of their lifestyle.
Suddenly, two insane neighbors show up to occupy the only other house on Bird Street, which has gone vacant for some time.The neighbors Vic and Ramona (Dan Aykroyd and Cathy Moriarty) play alternating head games on Earl, while showing a much more reasonable face to Mrs. Keese.
And listen to the narration coming from the TV in the Keese's living room (voiced by Aykroyd), hilarious.The reason some people disliked this movie I think is the expectations they have about Belushi.
It simply had NOT one funny line of dialog, no funny scenes and featured two men who I know CAN be funny--I do still recall seeing John Belushi in Animal House and Dan Aykroyd in Trading Places (not GREAT but a good flick).So what is the plot?
From what I can remember, Belushi plays his role VERY STRAIGHT as a dull suburbanite and Aykroyd as an obnoxious neighbor.
A short 10 second snippet of Dan Akroyd, John Belushi and Kathy Moriarty sitting around talking, giving impression that you need to go see the movie to hear the hilarious punch line that they didn't show in the advertisement.
Well over the course of one night and as well as the next day we have Earl Keese, who lives a quiet life with his wife Enid, going from being a quiet man to a man thats life is thrown a complete curve ball when his new neighbors move next door.
Also this is the only film in which John Belushi plays a non-wild normal man, on the other hand Aykroyd plays the wild character.
Many fans of Belushi and Aykroyd did not take to their reversal of what was typically their typecasts: here Belushi plays the straight man against Aykroyd's lunatic, which is what I beleive makes the movie so incredibly funny.On another note: when watching this film, give some attention to the soundtrack, brilliantly done by Bill Conti.
until the house next door is bought by Vic (Aykroyd) and Ramona (Cathy Moriarty), who quickly drive Earl crazy!
Vic's lunatic behavior has Earl running in circles while Ramona's coarse seductiveness leaves him panting.In short, Earl's tranquil life is suddenly turned upside down.Be sure to see this wickedly funny film.If it's the laughs you want, these are the neighbors to look in on!.
I suppose this looked good on paper but the story of an everyman being tormented by his neighbors is simply an excuse for abusing the audience.I should talk, I've willingly sat down and watched this film a couple of times over the years, trying to figure out what several friends found so screamingly funny in this movie.
John Belushi was a talented comic actor, and he was hilarious on SNL and in the film ANIMAL HOUSE.
Few people will like this movie on first viewing, as it is never going to make sense or have a real plot-it is a situational comedy.
The best thing about Neighbors is that it gives both Belushi and Aykroyd perfect characters for their abilities, and they are really comfortable in them.
It wasn't really funny but i did laugh at the following conversation.ENID: Well Ramona, maybe you're man enough to tell us what happened outside.RAMONA: He tried to pork me.Maybe that doesn't seem funny to you but it was to me.Throughout the whole movie I didn't understand what the hell was going on and why characters did the things they did, especially at the end of it.
It was odd seeing John Belushi in a sober role (after the likes of "Animal House", "1941"and "The Blues Brothers") and this would be his last one before his death.
Dan Aykroyd and Cathy Moriarty play the new flamboyant neighbours that would go on to make Belushi's character's life hell.
One of the last humor noir masterpiece, third to fourth degree excellence, Belushi-Aykroyd duet (last movie appearance), is stealing the show all these cartoons like characters are excellent.
It grows on you...Belushi and Aykroyd are brilliant casting, especially since they divided the roles somewhat against our expectations.".Unfortunately during filming this movie Belushi relapsed into drug addiction leaving us UN chef d'oeuvre d'humor!!!!!
This is Dan Ackroyds best performance to date and a cult classic for sure....its a great late night movie that makes you laugh and just enough dark humor to disturb you a little..
It may contain a chuckle or two, but thats the most you'll expect if you find yourself watching this absurdist Looney Tunes-esquire sloppily directed film about a couple (Cathy Moriarty playing a nympho and Dan Aykroyd playing Bugs Bunny) moving next to another more prudish couple (John Belushi as Elmer Fudd and Kathryn Walker as his bitch wife).
It stars 'Saturday Night Live' funnymen John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, in a classic case of role reversal.
One night, the neighbors move in: pushy, obnoxious Vic (Aykroyd), and his extremely seductive wife Ramona (Cathy Moriarty, then hot off her memorable turn in "Raging Bull").
Not that it's without engaging qualities; it just needs a lot of fixing up.When new neighbors move into the only other house on a swampy cul-de-sac called Bird Street, beaten-down suburbanite Earl Keese (John Belushi) finds himself dealing with more than he bargained for.
In fact, he was clean and sober for much of the shoot, and seems ready to continue what he started in his previous film, "Continental Divide," by playing a fully-realized character rather than a cartoon.There's a soulfulness to Earl Keese that makes you root for him, even when he's trying pathetically to alternately make time with and fend off his neighbor's wife.
Avildsen, who famously ceded control of this troubled production to his two stars, Aykroyd and Belushi.Aykroyd is the film's wild card, whose Vic character plays a number of tricks on Earl over the course of the movie's 24-hour time period.
A sense of suburban menace is effectively developed, the one thing other than Belushi's performance that holds up with repeated viewings.But "Neighbors" is not a film with a discernible point.
Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi seem to be giving their all and from the performances it's hard to tell what was going on.The Female Leads alongside the SNL Alumni are two must mention contributors, Cathy Moriarty and Kathryn Walker, that add to the engagement with superb characterizations.
I can just see Belushi and Aykroyd as they watched the suits at the studio viewing the final cut of this movie for the first time, giggling proudly to themselves and saying "Ha!
A movie that's Neighbors bad is one which looks like it's actually working harder to be awful than it is to be good (and I'm excluding purposefully "camp" films here) - one whose plot is almost indecipherable, whose events and characterizations are completely random, and again and again frustrates any expectation at arriving at any sort of meaningful conclusion, even a silly one.
While "Neighbors" isn't as funny as "Airplane!", it still has the typical silly type of humor of the early 80's.I'm not a fan of John Belushi but he was very good as the naive suburban man who leads a dull life.
John Belushi stars in his last film as a husband who lives a quiet life with his wife in the suburbs until Dan Aykroyd and Cathy Moriarity show up and unleash their obnoxious and out of control lives upon the neighborhood and especially on Belushi and his wife..Has some good moments with Belushi trying to remain sane..
A very funny dark comedy that was a bomb at the time of it's release which is a shame because I think it's Belushi and Ackroyd's best film.
It's the last film made by 'Saturday Night Live' veteran John Belushi (who died of drug abuse only a few months after its release), along with his Blues Brothers partner Dan Aykroyd.
In their third - and, unfortunately, final - pairing, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd play mismatched neighbors.
Belushi plays against type as the subdued Earl, while Aykroyd goes all out as the wacky Vic. Equally wacky is Cathy Moriarty as Vic's sexy wife Ramona, looking to get a piece of Earl.
The other cast member was Kathryn Walker as Earl's wife Enid (although I can't identify her from any other movie).I will admit that maybe "Neighbors" isn't as laugh-out-loud crazy as "Animal House", "1941" or "The Blues Brothers", it does have its moments, particularly the swamp scene.
Neighbors The irony of neighbours is that you often kill them with the same tool you borrowed from them.However, the aggravated neighbour in this dark comedy is liable to use his bare-hands.Despondent suburbanite Earl (John Belushi) is jolted from his mundane existence when an unconventional couple (Dan Aykroyd, Cathy Moriarty) moves in next-door.Unnerved by his forwardness and her flirtatiousness, Earl is confused as to why they moved into his quiet community.He soon begins to draw his own conclusions, which ultimately leads to paranoia and self-destruction.
I thought this film had some good funny moments to it, it was kind of a nice turn to see John Belushi in the less crazy role than he was usually cast in.
Anyway, regardless of the disputed accounts and allegations of inaccuracies, I finally got to see Neighbors in the early days of the newly launched UK TV station Channel 5 (itself no stranger to scandal thoroughout the Nineties - due to a schedule of football, films and fornication).Almost from its inception Neighbors was affected by every sort of problem that could conceivably affect a movie; I have no intention of rehashing these, but I will say that Neighbors is a strangely compelling comedy; John Belushi is quite effective as frustrated, ineffectual, conservative surburbanite Earl Kesse, whose steady life rapidly unravels under the relentless psychological and emtotional assault (temptation?) from his provocative new neighbours Vic and Ramona, both played with an obvious relish by Dan Ackroyd and Cathy Moriarity (the decision by Belushi and Ackroyd to switch roles was the project's shrewdest move) ; there are good turns from Kathryn Walker and Lauren - Marie Taylor as Belushi's repective wife and daughter.Contemporary audiences were left frustrated with Neighbors - instead of Animal House or 1941, they got a black comedy of suburban life that doesn't quite work despite the best efforts of its cast.
Neighbors (1981) ** (out of 4) A simple man and his wife (John Belushi, Kathryn Walker) have their lives turned upside down when new neighbors (Dan Aykroyd, Cathy Moriarty) move in.
Now I love watching bad movies and there are times that films (like PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE) are so bad that they end up being entertaining.
I don't mind that Belushi and Aykroyd switched roles but I think the film probably would have been better had they not.
The entire film seems to have nothing going for it and it appears that the only attempts at humor is that Belushi is playing it straight and Aykroyd is going over-the-top.
An eccentric young couple (Dan Aykroyd and Cathy Moriarity) move in next door to a reserved man (John Belushi) and his wife's (Kathryn Walker) residence.
Sure Dan Aykroyd could've been Earl and Belushi could've been Vic(as originally planned), but it wouldn't have been anywhere near as interesting as seeing Belushi playing a role so grandly opposite the role of Bluto he played in "Animal House".Despite some of the problems of the film, which include a look that feels like it's director John G.
Avildsen was trying to hurry things up, a lack of inspired cinematography, and at times, humor too perplexing to be funny, "Neighbors" is a truly interesting comedy and a very good film.
And he gets to share the screen with Saturday Night Live pal Dan Aykroyd.Earl Keese(Belushi)lives a quiet, close to mundane life with his wife, Enid(Kathryn Walker)and their daughter, Elaine(Lauren-Marie Taylor).
This movie is a bit sleepy, but there are many good things to keep the last role of John Belushi entertaining.
It's humor is very dark and for some that can be a turn off, and I generally think that is why the film is seen as a disappointment to Belushi fans because it is very different.
I found it to be hilarious and I think Belushi gives his best performance, sure I probably laughed more at The Blues Brothers but this character is his best played role.
I would have liked to have seen him make friends with Vic and Ramona but burning down his house and going cross country with them seems like a bit much.Neighbors is a tough film to find but it is worth seeing if you get the chance..
I know the BLUE BROTHERS was a much bigger hit, but NEIGHBORS is the better film of Belushi and Dan Ackroyd.NEIGHBORS is essentially a black comedy about suburbanite Earl Keese (Belushi in a totally convincing performance as a normal everyday guy).
Earl's life is turned upside down by the arrival of the new neighbors Vic (played by Ackroyd in my favorite film performance of his) and Ramona (a sultry, sexy Cathy Moriarty).
"Neighbors" is a black comedy from 1981 directed by John.G Avilsen(Rocky,The Karate Kid)the screenplay is written By Larry Gelbart(Tootsie)from a novel by Thomas Berger,who also wrote the novel Little Big Man.the movie is basically about the neighours from hell.Earl Keese(john Belushi)and his wife Enid(Kathryn Walker)have been married and living in a quiet,secluded suburb for some time.the only other house next to them has bee vacant for 6 months.then one day,Vic(Dan Akroyd)and Ramona(Cathryn Moriarty)move in,and quickly uproot the boring quiet lifestyle Earl and Enid have been accustomed to.From the get go,Vic and Ramona do nothing but drive Earl around the bend with their wacky sense of humour and lifestyle.this movie plays like an episode of the Twilight Zone.it is not the kind of movie where you will laugh in hysterics,but more of a situational satire.many of the things which occur are of course humorous in their absurdity,which is exactly the point of the film.it is simply brilliant,with first rate performances from all.the movie is over 25 years old,but does not seem dated.the humour is of course much more subdued and sublime,even implied, than many of the comedies we have today.but it works very well.complementing the movie very well is the spooky,eerie music,which adds to the dark atmosphere.all in all a very rewarding experience.
The only thing that changed back then and now, is that now I get the humor butI'm still bored.This movie was all over the place and was an obvious attempt to get Blues Brothers Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi back together again.
Or sadly, it feels like we've known them for far too long.It's hard not to put ourselves in the shoes of these characters, namely Earl, and see what we would do in the countless of scenes of weird behavior Vic and Ramona cause on their new neighbors.
When his character finally makes the turn near the end of the film, it seems like it comes straight out of the blue.
There's half of a good idea: While one would expect John Belushi to play the aggressive Vic, Dan Aykroyd brings a Foghorn Leghorn-like quality to the character that is very effective.
Where "The Blues Brothers" was strange in places-but easy to laugh at-"Neighbors" comedy comes a place of absurdity most people probably aren't familiar with.John Belushi plays Earl Keese, a straight laced, middle aged man who lives a very orderly and routine life.