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In addition to what you noted here, it also seems like part of the appeal (and what is drawing women to the movie) is that the 2 protagonists are a couple. Rose Byrne's character is just as involved as Rogen's. Also, though the film depicts frat life, the film itself doesn't feel like it's demeaning to women. So you get all the party antics, the gross-out jokes, the stoner comedy without the misogyny that often accompanies those elements. If there's any objectification going on it's of Zac Efron's bod. And I think the emphasis on relatable characters was somewhat unique. Usually the frat guys in movies like this are one-dimensional idiots. Refreshing to attempt to show them as human beings with other dimensions, vulnerabilities, etc.

mgren, I'm going to write about precisely that in a blog post tomorrow or the next day. Perhaps one reason why the movie did as well as it did with a female audience. So great to see a woman character in a male-dominated environment not just a passive object, but an active agent.

I think aspiring comedy writers should take note: Neighbors, The Hangover, Project X, hell, even Superbad -- all movies that center around partying, and all raked in lots of dough. I could go on endlessly about my opinions on the connection between these types of movies and the contemporary American psyche, but the basis of my thesis is pretty apparent in the list above. Americans just like to party. They like to see other people get into incredibly painful, troubling situations, and they like to laugh about it. Combine all that into a clever script and you can probably make some money.

Good observation, Kalen. I watched Neighbors in a theater (about 90% filled on a late Monday night) with almost all young adults, including many college students, and they all LOVED this movie. Those party scenes felt real to them, that's the sense I got, and they enjoyed seeing what you described play out on screen.

It also helps that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was a pretty bad movie XD From what i've been hearing, this movie has everything ASM2 was lacking. Likable, relatable characters, a focused plot, etc. I had no interest in it before, but now I think i'll check it out.

Neighbors is not a perfect movie, of course. Some scenes drag on and the improvisational feel of the interchanges between actors plays up top and, oddly, makes the moments feel inauthentic... like we doing IMPROV here, rather than real characters in a real world. There are some choices about characters that feel more like the filmmakers at work, rather than the characters themselves in action. It's quite raunchy, a bit much for my taste, but it's *that* kind of movie, so you get what you pay for. And as a parent, there is a such a level of implausibility about parents handling the baby that at times, I was just left to shaking my head. However none of those is deal breakers, the characters are fun, and the movie is funny. Plus as much as I like Seth Rogen, my favorite character in the film is Kelly (Rose Byrne) which is so refreshing in this type of movie. This article about Byrne speaks to that. The thing is, apart from the R-rating, this is the type of comedy Hollywood studios used to make in SPADES, like LOTS of them in the 80s and 90s: Low to mid-budget, high concept comedies that paid more than lip service to the characters. Somehow in going all in for big budget, pre-branded, special effects franchise movies, the studios have largely gone away from that. It ignores the fact that people want to LAUGH, they NEED to laugh. Yes, they want edge. Yes, there seems to be a current fascination with post-apocalyptic settings and dark moods. But it can't all be gloom and doom. Comedy has existed for centuries as one way for people to cope with reality and simply be entertained. That's why it's pretty ironic to me that we could be talking about "Neighbors" as an ORIGINAL movie, that is in comparison to Spider-Man 2, Godzilla and all the rest of the sequels coming out this summer.