Comedy, 97 Minutes, 2014
This one was trouble. Seth Rogan [IMDB] is great, Rose Byrne [IMDB] is great, Dave Franco [IMDB] is pretty good and Zac Efron [IMDB] is definitely there. These are all proven quantities that have (almost) all produced quality laughs in the past. The cast doesn’t seem to be the problem.
The set-up is promising. Two former party people settling into new parenthood in a quiet neighborhood are pitted against their new neighbors: a professional-party frat! The couple tries to live and let live, mistakes are made and things escalate quickly out of control.
Positively, the movie has one of the cutest damn babies ever crapped out a cooch. (Yes, I realize that the baby in question is actually a pair of freakishly cute twins, but I’m not going to spoil the movie magic here.) Seriously, the movie would have been better off just pointing the camera at this kid and letting her baby-riff for 90 minutes. Maybe I’m getting soft.
The ingredients are there; it’s too damn bad that they just never mix well. There are absolutely some laughs, but not the big, uncontrollable belly laughs you long for. Things get too serious, too often and more nasty than madcap. There’s also a healthy helping of dumbassery to keep the plot and characters in motion.
Damn, that baby is cute though.
