When a rowdy Fraternity moves into the house next door to new parents Mac and Kelly, the older couple at first try to be hip and cool. The frat boys themselves – led by Zac Efron (my, that boy is growing up) and Dave Franco – also initially play nice. But a misunderstanding escalates outrageously into full scale war between the neighbours, as they each try to bring the other down.
So: things I loved. Zac Efron, obviously. I love Rose Byrne too, and I really loved that her Kelly was as irresponsible and bok for chaos as anyone (the polar opposite of the only-adult-in-the-room usually expected of the female lead.) Re. locations, quoting directly from the Production Notes: as much of Neighbors takes place between Mac & Kelly’s house and the Delta Psi fraternity, the production team was put to the task of finding two homes side by side that could accommodate the production. “We looked for houses next to each other that were so close that you could look in each other’s windows and pass each other a cup of sugar,” explains production designer Julie Berghoff. “It was a bit challenging to find houses that were the sizes we needed, one bigger and one slightly smaller that was realistic for an accountant with a wife who works at home.” The perfect pair of houses was found in the historic West Adams District of Los Angeles, which became the production’s home base for the majority of the shoot….Mac and Kelly’s house was able to serve as both the exterior and interior sets.”