Neighbors (film)
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Neighbors is a 1981 film based on the book by Thomas Berger. It was released through Columbia Pictures, directed by John G. Avildsen and stars John Belushi as Earl, Dan Aykroyd as Vic (renamed from the novel's Harry), Cathy Moriarty as Ramona, and Kathryn Walker as Enid.
The film inevitably takes many liberties with Berger's story, and it 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. The film's production was troubled: Belushi and Aykroyd switched their roles in pre-production, acting against type (usual-wild man Belushi played the meek Earl and usual-straight-arrow Aykroyd played the obnoxious Vic). Belushi and Aykroyd also argued constantly with director Avildsen (believing he had no understanding of comedy) and lobbied to have him removed (Belushi wanted either Aykroyd himself or John Landis to direct), and Avildsen argued with producers Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown.
In addition to this, Aykroyd and Belushi rewrote the screenplay, Belushi's drug problems caused trouble on set, there were problems with the film's score (Tom "Triple Scale" Scott was replaced by Bill Conti, and Belushi unsuccessfully tried to have the film finish with a song written and performed by the punk rock group Fear), and disastrous test-screenings led to multiple edits of the finished film being assembled in a succession of fervent attempts to make the film make more sense and be more audience-friendly. The movie studio eventually forced Fear off the project and to make up for it Belushi got them a guest spot on Saturday Night Live.
For one test-version of the film, the head of Columbia Pictures, Frank Price, made the contentious decision to have quotations from positive press reviews of Berger's book assembled into a caption that would serve as a prologue to the film (this move prompted an angry missive from Dan Aykroyd). Although the final version of Neighbors released to cinemas in December 1981 was not exactly a commercial flop, it received harsh critical reaction and fans of Belushi and Aykroyd, perhaps expecting a comedy closer to The Blues Brothers, were disappointed in it. Neighbors was also John Belushi's last film; he died in March 1982, several months after the film's release.
A comprehensive look at the film's troubled production can be found in Bob Woodward's 1984 book, Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi.
[edit] External links
- Neighbors at the Internet Movie Database
