‘Neighbors’ continues vulgarity trend

Zac Efron and a band of fraternity boys don’t make life easy for a couple living next door in the comedy “Neighbors.” (Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures)

In 1982, during the spring of my freshman year in college, I went with two of my upperclassman friends to see a very bawdy film entitled “Porky’s.” None of us really knew what to expect. Rumors were that it was hilarious and incredibly lewd. I remember it exceeded all of our expectations. We expected raunchy, but I left the theater almost in shock. I did not think that regular films, those made for the general public, could be that vulgar.

Thirty years later, if I were to sit down and watch “Porky’s” again, my guess is that I would find it fairly tame. Tame at least compared to films such as the three “Hangover” movies or the new film “Neighbors.”

The film tells the story of a young couple, Mac (Seth Rogan) and Kelly Radner (Rose Byrne), who are enjoying their married life and their new baby girl (the child being one of the highlights of the film) when along comes a fraternity that moves in next door. Zac Efron and Dave Franco (younger brother of James) play the leaders of the fraternity. Needless to say, chaos follows as the young couple tries to control the lifestyle of the frat boys.

“Neighbors” is heating up the box office, proving once again that raunchy activities and coarse language appeal to many. As I have written before about many films, I am not sure that I am the target audience for “Neighbors.” Back in 1982, as a college freshman, I was the intended audience for “Porky’s.” My peers and I were the ones the filmmakers wanted in the seats, so we would go back to the dorm and tell others what we had experienced. That was the reason we went to the film, because our fraternity brothers told us it was an experience we needed to have.

Today, I am not sure anyone I interact with would enjoy “Neighbors.” However the film could become this generation’s “Porky’s.” Back in 1982, “Porky’s” made $105 million and was the fifth biggest film of that year. (It placed behind “E.T.,” “Tootsie,” “An Officer and a Gentleman” and “Rocky III.”) I suspect from the opening week’s numbers, “Neighbors” will end up being one of the success stories of this summer.

But here is what you should know. Much of the humor in this film involves material that will offend many. The language is harsh and the film earns the R rating in the first two minutes and does not take a turn toward the wholesome after those opening moments. Many of the gags are funny. But even at ninety-six minutes, the constant flow of humorous violence and tricks seems to grow old.

Then there is this theme in the film about growing up and accepting that life changes. One cannot be at the fraternity party forever. Both the husband and wife who live next to the frat house and the president of the frat (Efron) deal with issues about life moving on. It is a good thought, much more profound than anything in “Porky’s” or the “Hangover” movies. But ultimately, this life lesson is not enough to rescue the movie from being a profane barrage of attempts at humor, some more clever than others.

But then again, I am not the target audience. And perhaps I never was, even when I was eighteen and in a fraternity. I was not the kind of guy who would have enjoyed the lifestyle that is depicted for the frat brothers in the film. Instead, I was the guy who went to the movies with his brothers and got shocked and greatly amused by the shower scene in “Porky’s.”