Wonderful character development!

the audience applauded

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

"Neighbors" is quite an odd film. It was Aykord and Belushi's follow up to "The Blues Brothers", but it couldn't be any different from the comedy in that film even if it tried. Where "The Blues Brothers" was strange in places-but easy to laugh at-"Neighbors" comedy comes a place of absurdity most people probably aren't familiar with.John Belushi plays Earl Keese, a straight laced, middle aged man who lives a very orderly and routine life. Sure it's boring, but him and his wife don't seem bothered by it. However, when a very strange couple moves in next door, Earl's life is completely changed in only a matter of 24 hours as he's thrown into a world completely devoid of manners and common decency. Aykroyd and Belushi go completely against character type with Aykroyd playing the party animal and Belushi playing the straight laced one. However, it works surprisingly well and it gives Belushi a chance to show a side of his comedy that wasn't seen very much-dark and strange are the best two words to describe it. In fact the whole film is that-dark and strange-it's never impossible to laugh at, but it's very strange to watch. Probably the reason the film was such a disappointment was because it was marketed as a straight up comedy rather than the dark absurdist piece it really is. That's not to say it's a perfect film, the music is incredibly intrusive and Earl's change of heart towards Vic and Ramona feels a little abrupt. But, for the most part, the film works on a lot of levels. The comedy is very intriguing, the acting is surprisingly good and the overall feel of the film is very unique. It's a film worth seeing, maybe not one that's on repeat, but one that's occasionally put on when you need a bit of dark escapism.

"Neighbors" is a loopy dark comedy, based on a novel by Thomas Berger. Although the screenplay is credited to Larry Gelbart, it was actually heavily re-written, and was a very troubled shoot. It stars 'Saturday Night Live' funnymen John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, in a classic case of role reversal. Here, Belushi is the straight man and Aykroyd the zany one. Belushi plays Earl Keese, a mild middle class individual living at the end of a suburban street. One night, the neighbors move in: pushy, obnoxious Vic (Aykroyd), and his extremely seductive wife Ramona (Cathy Moriarty, then hot off her memorable turn in "Raging Bull"). They introduce an element of excitement into Earls' mundane existence.In this viewers' own humble opinion, this wasn't a particularly funny movie. Moments of real wit and cleverness are not that frequent. Director John G. Avildsen ("Rocky", "The Karate Kid") just doesn't seem to have a feel for this sort of material. Occasionally, "Neighbors" is amusing, but the main thing that it has going for it are some deft performances. Aykroyd clearly has fun in his part, and Belushi shows a different side to his comedic talent by doing an impressive job here. Moriarty is devilishly entertaining. Kathryn Walker ("Slap Shot") is fine as Earls' wife, as is Lauren-Marie Taylor ("Friday the 13th Part 2") as his free-spirited daughter. There are also a few appearances by Belushi and Aykroyds' fellow 'SNL' alum Tim Kazurinsky.To be fair, there are some good lines, such as the one that motivates Earl to open his cellar door. I thought the scenes with Belushi and Moriarty were among the better ones. Bill Conti supplies a deliberately goofy music score.It's also rather sad watching this, knowing this was Belushis' last film.Five out of 10.

A quiet man (John Belushi)'s peaceful suburban lifestyle is threatened by the new, obnoxious couple that moves in next door.I feel like this was a precursor to "The Burbs". Not as funny, definitely not as weird, but some of the same concepts about the horrors of the suburbs. John Belushi excels here because he is given an opportunity to be the normal guy rather than the "wild and crazy one". Aykroyd is okay, though this is far from his best.And Cathy Moriarty? I still have to wonder how she never got any bigger. She seemed to start off so strong, fade away, briefly come back for "Casper" and then... where did she go? Cathy, we need more movies with you, please.

Neighbors The irony of neighbours is that you often kill them with the same tool you borrowed from them.However, the aggravated neighbour in this dark comedy is liable to use his bare-hands.Despondent suburbanite Earl (John Belushi) is jolted from his mundane existence when an unconventional couple (Dan Aykroyd, Cathy Moriarty) moves in next-door.Unnerved by his forwardness and her flirtatiousness, Earl is confused as to why they moved into his quiet community.He soon begins to draw his own conclusions, which ultimately leads to paranoia and self-destruction. A satire on suburban bliss, Neighbors finds both its SNL alumni playing against their type in order to create a truly eccentric comedy.Based on the delusional bestseller by Thomas Berger, this undervalued psychological comedy from the '80s is an excellent commentary on the confines of safety and sanity.Furthermore, you should only interact with your neighbours if they have a pool.Yellow Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca