Fish and Cherries Productions

Neighbors has some entertaining laughs, but overall left me feeling very uncomfortable. The setup has some openings for a very zany comedy, but starts taking some dark turns and even though it’s still played for laughs, it’s hard to root for either side because each of them has done their share of reprehensible things that should have gotten them arrested. On top of that, it’s wildly inconsistent with its characterization, particularly with Zac Efron, whose character starts out as reasonably likable and even the more sympathetic party before taking a dive into outright villainy. The other side isn’t much better, being petty at best and instigators at worst. All in all, it’s hard to believe that either side got the ending it deserved. Like I said, there are some good laughs, but if either side had acted remotely intelligently, there wouldn’t have been a movie, so it’s really nothing to write home about. Even though that’s technically what I’m doing right now.

Saving Mr. Banks is a very moving piece that nearly brought me to tears. I have no doubt that several aspects of the story are romanticized as is expected of Disney’s films that are based on true stories, but that did not stop it from hitting a lot of the right notes. The cast is brilliant, especially Emma Thompson as P.L. Travers and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney, but I personally give credit to Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Novak as the Sherman brothers, which is a fun little cameo for anyone who knows enough Disney history. Whether the film is Oscar-worthy or not is up for debate, but any film that tugs at your heartstrings this much is definitely worth a recommendation.