Set against the background of the electronic dance music (EDM) scene, Max Joseph's We are Your Friends tells the tale of group of friends whose dream is to make it big, move to L.A. and live the life of the rich and famous. Throw in the thread of boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, and your left with a pretty familiar film that has been made time and time again; and, no doubt, will continue to be made again and again.
Cole Carter (Zac Effron; Neighbors), wannabe DJ, spends as much of his spare time as he can making tracks to wow the crowds at the local club supported by his friends. After a chance meeting with DJ James Reed (Wes Bently; The Hunger Games) one night after a gig, it seems all of Coles dreams could become a reality, if he could just fire up his imagination and make the one track that could launch his career. Hurdles stand before him along the way - the loyalty to his friends, the reliance on his job in real estate, and his feelings for Sophie (Emily Ratajkowski;Gone Girl), the girl of his dreams who happens to be the girlfriend of James, his mentor.
The main storyline centering on the love triangle of Cole, James and Sophie would make for a dire movie if not for the on-screen chemistry of Effron, Bently and Ratajkowski. Zac Effron has been around for, what seems, an age. He has always had talent and he shows it on screen here, especially in scenes not involving Bently and Ratajkowski. Director Max Joseph, better known for his TV show Catfish, must have realized that the most powerful element of the film was the music and the way it interacted with the various threads of the story. His use of some psychedelic animation when Cole was tripping on drugs was a highlight.
"Are we ever gonna be better than this?", Cole screams from the mic. Well, the truth is, probably not. We are Your Friends isn't going to be up for any of the major awards this season, but like so many films made in this genre, it does have the feel-good factor. I'm not an EDM fan at all, but I was tapping along to the beat, and, hand on heart, I did enjoy this movie.
Although the story is predictable, We are Your Friends is enjoyable and is certainly a ride to blow away the post-Christmas blues.
We Are Your Friends is out now on Digital HD, Blu-ray and DVD.
Special Features Included:
Featurettes
DJ, Summerfest ,Friends, Brittany Furlan, Skateboard, Pivot, How Zac Effron learned to DJ
Interviews
Zac Effron, Emily Ratajkowsk, Max Joseph
