Neighbours (AKA Bad Neighbours)
Dir: Nicholas Stoller
2014
****
If Bad Neighbours had been made any time before now it would have starred a middle-aged man, an actress half his age as his wife and an older girl for a daughter and a young boy as his son. He would have got angry with his neighbour while his characterless wife would have pushed him to 'do something' about it and then would have got angry when he did. The kids would follow and he'd have to jump through a ridiculous series of hoops to win back their respect as well as make things better with his neighbour who would have been the one in the wrong all along. Thankfully those days are over. The idea of a bad neighbour that makes life a misery is not a new one but the way this film goes about it is. There are times when the humour gets a bit grubby for my liking but on the whole it's funny, sweet and just that little bit more real than similar films that have come before. It's the beginning of the way forward, it may not seem like it but it's actually a huge step.