Neighbors (1981)

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

"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.

Haven't seen this film since I saw it in the theatre in 1981 when it first came out. The only thing I remembered was Ramona saying "You ball in the corner pocket." I don't know why this film got bad reviews. I got a real kick out of it and I also did the second time when I found in on DVD just the other day. I thought the whole story line was so ridiculous that I found it very entertaining. The whole cast was great. Cathy Moriarty was terrific as Ramona, and she was only 21 years old at the time. Did anyone else notice that Earl's entire frame of mind changed every time the power lines shorted out? The film never explains Vic and Ramona. Who were they? At one point Vic tells Earl she's bought and paid for and he can have her. What's up with that? Either way I liked it. Just an absurd comedy. A great watch.!

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

I suppose this movie is one of those that divides the world into two camps ... but my camp will kick the hell out of yours, assuming you're in the camp that dislikes this classic.First off, I knew this was a great movie when I mentioned having seen it and my older brother looked at me with his well-practiced disdain and said 'it was the stupidest movie he'd ever seen' ... well that sealed it for me ... i knew it was a classic then ...Many people were completely thrown off by the somewhat reversal of roles for Belushi and Akroyd ... i suppose Belushi's role really threw off some people who couldn't imagine him playing the latter day burned-out shell of a man made famous by Spencer Tracy in "guess who's coming to dinner' (the great speech in the end) ... he's a worn out man who hates his job, cringes coming home looking at the long-empty house next door, and the sparks firing off the high tension lines out back ... you can just feel his inside sink as they must every day pushed and packed down tight by the crushing weight of the job he must hate ...Belushi relays all of this in the space of twenty seconds right at the start of the movie ... you don't need to know one more bit of background on his character ... it is a perfect piece of acting ... perhaps the single most perfect in a career filled with Belushi's usually over-the-top physical comedy but as wild as most of his best known bits are, this is so mild but yet complete it fits perfectly at the near-end of his career ... my god, it's sad to see it and think of how much more he could have accomplished without those nasty habits getting out of hand ... (at least it inspired plenty of other fellow comedians to clean up their hand and survive to develop their careers ... robin Williams comes to mind) but Cathy Moriarty plays the femme fatale to perfection and with the sexually suppressed, frustrated, and nearly shriveled up Belushi as her target, they make a great pair on screen ...and of course the madness that builds and keeps going and makes Belushi look like the crazy one ... but, and here's the warning spoiler, he is and finally fits in and becomes happy :) this is where my brother just griped and whined about how dumb the ending was ...he burned his house down ... HE BURNED IT DOWN lmao ... there ya go ... he finally 'went sane' :) watching it again for the first time in decades, this movie still holds its edge to this day ... show it to the kids ... it's nothing they can't see these days ... a true comedic classic