Neighbors

Neighbors is a 1981 film based on the novel by Thomas Berger. It was released through Columbia Pictures, was directed by John G. Avildsen, and starred John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Cathy Moriarty, and Kathryn Walker. The film takes liberties with Berger's story, and features a more upbeat ending. The screenplay of the film is officially credited to Larry Gelbart, although it was extensively rewritten, to Gelbart's public disapproval.

Plot

Earl Keese is a low-key, ineffectual, middle-class suburbanite with a wife, Enid, and a teenage daughter, Elaine. Earl's peaceful, dreary life changes when a younger couple, Vic and Ramona, move next door. The new neighbors impose themselves on the Keese household, leaving Earl infuriated with the loud, gung-ho Vic, and flustered by the sly and seductive Ramona. Earl is frustrated by his inability to handle them, and the way that he can never come up with absolute proof that the couple are doing anything wrong on purpose. Enid and Elaine are no help, and over the course of one night, the antagonism between Earl and his new neighbors escalates into suburban warfare. Earl begins to question his sanity, and the sanity of his wife and daughter. He realizes that his new neighbors have provided him with the most excitement he's had in years, and that they can give him a promising future out of suburbia and away from his family. In the film's closing scene, Earl joins Vic and Ramona, leaving his family behind and his house on fire.

Cast

• John Belushi as Earl Keese
• Dan Aykroyd as Vic
• Cathy Moriarty as Ramona
• Kathryn Walker as Enid Keese
• Igors Gavon as Chic
• Dru-Ann Chuckran as Chic's Wife
• Tim Kazurinsky as Pa Greavy
• Tino Insana as Perry Greavy
• P. L. Brown as Police Officer #1
• Henry Judd Baker as Police Officer #2
• Lauren-Marie Taylor as Elaine Keese
• Sherman G. Lloyd as Fireman #1 (DOC)
• Bert Kittel as Fireman #2
• J. B. Friend as Additional Fireman
• Bernie Friedman as Additional Fireman