We Are Your Friends is the first feature film from writer and director Max Joseph, and stars Zac Efron as Cole, an aspiring young DJ whose life in the San Fernando Valley consists of occasional gigs, a miserable job and spending time with his troublesome friends. But when a chance encounter with a popular and successful DJ, played by Wes Bentley, opens up his eyes and mind to a different world and better opportunities, his loyalties are soon tested. Not only to his friends, but his new mentor, whose girlfriend soon finds affection from and companionship in Cole.
There's not an awful lot of depth in We Are Your Friends, but it works on the strength of Efron, Bentley and Emily Ratajkowski, who make for an involving trio whose chemistry compensates for some unfortunate turns in the story. Efron and Ratajkowski are particularly good, and have such vibrant chemistry that it's missed when ventures into Cole's job in real estate sidelines the most involving aspects of a story that's very much a 21st Century take on A Star is Born. But it stumbles in a final act that forces Cole into a moment of truth, undercutting the dramatic potential that was building between him and his friends. The music is good, I should add, but the beat doesn't have enough heart to make this movie anything more than diverting. This said, Efron continues to show just how smart and capable he is as an actor, although what probably seemed like a good commercial project has bombed something awful on the domestic market.
There's not an awful lot of depth in We Are Your Friends, but it works on the strength of Efron, Bentley and Emily Ratajkowski, who make for an involving trio whose chemistry compensates for some unfortunate turns in the story. Efron and Ratajkowski are particularly good, and have such vibrant chemistry that it's missed when ventures into Cole's job in real estate sidelines the most involving aspects of a story that's very much a 21st Century take on A Star is Born. But it stumbles in a final act that forces Cole into a moment of truth, undercutting the dramatic potential that was building between him and his friends. The music is good, I should add, but the beat doesn't have enough heart to make this movie anything more than diverting. This said, Efron continues to show just how smart and capable he is as an actor, although what probably seemed like a good commercial project has bombed something awful on the domestic market.