Bad Neighbours Seth Rogen’s suburban standoff

Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne star as Mac and Kelly new parents clinging to the idea they can still party hard. One day a fraternity moves in next door, led by Zac Efron’s shirt-averse Teddy. Torn between their desire to look cool and their need for quiet the duo befriend the frat, only for a breach of trust to cause all-out war.

It’s Animal House meets Knocked Up, but there’s more to Bad Neighbours than knob jokes (though they’re plentiful too). The characters are more complex than you might expect. Mac and Kelly are struggling first-time parents, while Efron’s Teddy is a man-child revelling  in the death-rattle of a student lifestyle without a thought to the future.

Most importantly it’s consistently funny from its opening minutes, which see Mac and Kelly have awkward shirts-on sex in front of their baby (“She only sees shapes,” says Kelly. “Shapes f**king each other!” Mac responds). Christopher Mintz-Plasse o-stars as a mammoth wanged frat member a gag that pays off big in a homemade dildos skit and the largely improvised humour throws up some hysterical one-liners, such as Mac describing Teddy’s abs as,“a great big arrow pointing towards your dick.”

This improvised comedy does have its drawbacks though. It’s undeniably funny from moment to moment, but feels more like a series of sketches than a thoughtfully structured story, and the female characters are largely reduced to air-headed eye candy. The crude humour won’t be to everyone’s taste either.

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