Please Donate to Help Save PopMatters. We Are Your Friends Review By Rich Cline Basically the perfect summer movie, this lightweight drama has a great-looking cast and plenty of youthful energy, but not much authenticity or depth. In this movie, James tells Cole the ideal EDM track would work up the heart-rate of the crowd to 128 beats-per-minute. I'm not too big on EDM; I love some of it, dislike most of it, but this movie actually painted the genre/scene in an interesting light. "We Are Your Friends," directed by Max Joseph, isn't quite sure of the answer to that question. There is one scene near the end where the friend arc almost pays off, but even then it's not worth all the wasted minutes building up these characters when there's a far more interesting story that's going to waste. Share to … Set in the world of electronic music and Hollywood nightlife, an aspiring 23-year-old DJ named Cole (Efron) spends his days scheming with his childhood friends and his nights working on … Zac Efron finds beauty and the beat in this attempt to bring EDM culture to the screen. It's sad to see someone who you can tell was at their coolest and most accomplished in their teens. | By … Warner Bros. | Release Date: August 28, 2015 | R. Starring: Alex Shaffer, Alicia Coppola, Emily Ratajkowski, Jon Bernthal, Jonny Weston, Shiloh Fernandez, Wes Bentley, Wiley M. Pickett, Zac Efron. I left the theater feeling empty, and as if the story didn't really impact upon me at all or make me think. But this is the entertainment business: "What have you done for me lately?" I watched the premiere last night and I don't have many words to say. Instead of the focus being on the music, its on being half naked, rolling on E and hooking up with anything with a pulse (that last part is probably optional). ‘Tenet’ Review: Christopher Nolan’s Knockout Arrives Right on Time, ‘Bill & Ted Face the Music’ Review: Third Time’s a Most Excellent Charm, ‘Personal History of David Copperfield’ Review: Dickens, Served with a Side of Absurdity. It has some quite decent beats, other than that, it is just filled with cliché; ditching your friends on crappy party, for going to a better one, falling in love with the woman who is the girlfriend of your mentor, doing a crappy job - which you hate but still don't quit - having a ONS with the girl you can't have, oh, and lets not forget the; big impact because one of your buddies died, but you are going straight back to your daily routine, even tough you tell everybody, how depressed you are.. and the list goes on and on.. Cole Carter (Zac Efron) is an aspiring DJ. At the end of the day, It's really just something you go see with a gal to kill some time. Played by Hollywood's teen heartthrob Zac Efron, the film follows a young … This movie tries so hard to be something original yet falls into place of other clichéd music movies. This movie shows all of that (of course) but the focus is on doing something MORE with your life. After losing his best friend, Squirrel, he pursues his career in producing music and he puts together the perfect record, using natural sounds. So at first it seems weird that, in We Are Your Friends, an elder statesman of the genre says that if you’re going to be a bedroom musician, you’d better have some instruments in the bedroom. Moreover, the story is not (only) about teens, parties and cruising, as it may seem (at least for the title that the film won in Brazilian territory), the entire trajectory of the four friends during screen time is excellent too. Zac Efron. If you want to see a movie strictly about partying go watch "Project X". Genres. Sex, drugs, dance music, parties, girls and Zac Efron are the recipe for We Are Your Friends, a late-summer box office entry from Warner Bros that might find a hard time gaining traction (especiall… Zac Efron is definitely becoming a bigger star than we give credit for, he's choosing some great roles and some very unique ones. Several of the best songs on We're Your Friends, ... the bevis frond rock alternative rock neo-psychedelia indie rock music review fire records review. In the meantime, "We Are Your Friends" can serve as filler. It’s too bad the screenplay he wrote with Meaghan Oppenheimer, from a story by executive producer Richard Silverman, panders to formula instead of exploding it. We Are Your Friends review: Zac Efron's almost-great coming-of-age story is hamstrung by the EDM hook. Zac Efron, Emily Ratajkowski, and Wes Bentley turn in solid work, and the film does start off pretty decent but after about the 20 minutes mark the film just becomes really boring. © Copyright 2021 Rolling Stone, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC. James is a very popular DJ and takes Cole under his wing, and tries to make a better DJ out of Cole. This is not an amazing movie and won't win any awards but I actually liked this much more than I was expecting to. In all, it's a watchable movie but I was left feeling a bit empty when it finished. WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS. Also, the plot is predictable and it's all kind of superficial. Metacritic Reviews. The acting was average and the storyline became a bit predictable after a while. They hold parties with there best friends Ollie (Shiloh Fernández) and Squirrel (Alex Shaffer), on a regular basis but they only make a little profit, which doesn't go that far. Movie soundtrack could be much, much better, as well. We Are Your Friends movie reviews and ratings - Tribute.ca rating of 3.41 out of 5 Stars. We Are Your Friends is a 2015 drama film directed by Max Joseph (in his directorial debut) and written by Joseph and Meaghan Oppenheimer, from a story by Richard Silverman.The film stars Zac Efron, Emily Ratajkowski and Wes Bentley, and follows a young Los Angeles DJ trying to make it in the music industry and figure out life with his friends. The title "We Are Your Friends" is a curious one too, because with friends like these — run as far away as possible. We Are Your Friends Critics Consensus. 8. There’s the sleek, visual-format flexible manner of the filmmaking, which mixes graphic design tropes with animation and such for some of the movie’s most engaging sequences. I surprisingly give this a B. EDM Music has become a crazy world of drugs, sex and bass drops. We Are Your Friends a surprisingly decent look at the EDM generation. I feel those expecting some mega existential change your life material out of movies miss out on the finer points. Even with two additional writers helping Joseph with the script, We Are Your Friends turns out to be a narrative mess that, … We Are Your Friends review – music drama marks return to form for Zac Efron Efron puts in a smart performance as a would-be DJ facing new frontiers We Are Your Friends: ‘plenty to like’. Awards The four friends start work for Paige (Jon Bernthal) who is in real-estate foreclosures. We Are Your Friends review: Zac Efron hits the decks in DJ movie that loses the beat. Overall, a surprise of a movie that I liked more than I expected to. We Are Your Friends boasts magnetic stars and glimmers of insight, but they're lost in a clichéd coming-of-age story as programmed as the soundtrack's beats. Review de la película We Are Your Friends, protagonizada por Zac Efron, Emily Ratajkowski y Wes Buntley. I have had the same favorite movie for years and this one just made it to the top! Year. A place that is just too far away from where all their dreams can come true in the Hollywood hills. A first half an hour was so boring and then I felt it could go up to the better, but no, the rest was the average even though the action have little changed and a bit of drama was dropped, but not enough good scenes to keep me interested. How long is the music is a "purity" very cool and also reflects the importance with which the protagonist Cole (Zac Efron) is the same art (music). I've spent my entire life(as far back as I can remember) loving techno, house, dance, drum and bass etc etc. We Are Your Friends, film review: Zac Efron stars in a surprisingly dark and self-conscious drama (15) Max Joseph, 96 mins. External Reviews There’s a scene where Zac Efron explains (loosely) the art of DJing and talks about how the first thing you need to … After spending a passionate night together, James finds out about there relationship, which breaks his friendship with Cole. Despite it following a corny narrative and featuring some odd directorial decisions, especially in the final throes, We Are Your Friends is charmingly sincere as it rummages around the realms of youthful possibility, emerging with the kind of altered perspective that … The main character Cole (Zac Efron) has talent and ambition to become a headline DJ, but instead of going to college to learn his art he hangs out with his friends, who are drifting in the party drug scene, until he meets an established artist James Reed (Wes Bentley). You bet. Zac Efron, mixing with aplomb. “We Are Your Friends,” directed by Max Joseph, from a script by Joseph and Meaghan Oppenheimer (based on a story by producer Richard Silverman), makes a big deal out of “getting” EDM. God help ... Movie Review: We Are Your Friends. I encourage you to read the comment section of this post. The whole narrative has many virtues, I wonder if you can explain, but the story from one point holds you, I barely saw time pass, the way the issue of music is aborted is excellent, you may find (as well as I thought before seeing): "It's a film about DJ's, music is not important in the story." Above all else, We Are Your Friends is a visceral experience. We Are Your Friends Movie Review We are your Friends Average Ratings:2.33/5 Reviews Counted: 3Positive: 2Negative : 1From All the Top Indian Critics reviews on the web Ratings:2/5 Review By:Rajeev Masand Site:CNN IBN We Are Your Friends starring Zac Efron is a vacuous film set in the world of DJ-ing and EDM. Another weekend, another review and this time we are rocking into the theater for yet another youthful drama. in a shoddy mess of a movie. August 28, 2015, 6:18 PM • 5 min read. (Shades of The Wolf of Wall Street.) However, I think the biggest plus point is the script, not that it be complex and innovative, but the film sets out to narrate a certain point there, and does so with praise, almost flawless, is almost, I think the only negative point in all this is how some situations are resolved in "easy" way more, are only two situations in which noticed it, but still prevented the note I gave was greater. At an art gallery party, Cole sees the paintings and guests gyrating together like the animation in Richard Linklater’s Waking Life. I had low standards for the film but yet it still managed to disappoint me. Zac Efron leads the cast in the latest film about partying and friendship, in hopes of entertaining the masses in what looks to be some half-baked movie. Zac Efron plays an 23 year old, aspiring DJ (Cole Carter), in San Fernando Valley, who lives with his best friend Mason (Jonny Weston). The site's consensus reads, " We Are Your Friends boasts magnetic stars and glimmers of insight, but they're lost in a clichéd coming-of-age story as programmed as the soundtrack's beats." Send us a tip using our anonymous form. Film Review. 2015 sees Efron continue to strive for cinematic relevance in the drama "We Are Your Friends" (R, 1:36). I strongly recommend this movie to everyone! A great new perspective on the music... and friendship. The debut feature film from Max Joseph, We Are Your Friends is a beautifully absurd millennial angst fantasy, as shallow yet infectiously catchy as an EDM song. my first techno experience and first tape I ever owned was the Mortal Kombat soundtrack! I didn't care about any of them. The money is good until Cole grows a conscience. Teens may be drawn in by the pulsing electronic dance music or stars Zac Efron and Emily Ratajkowski, but the material is definitely geared toward more mature viewers. More Like : We Are Your Friends. Review: We Are Your Friends Is Breaking Away for Entourage Fans—in the Worst Way 1 1/2 out of 5 stars. I was expecting to detest this movie, and I'm happy to say that I found some enjoyment in We Are Your Friends. Lets mark them down. “We Are Your Friends,” directed by Max Joseph, from a script by Joseph and Meaghan Oppenheimer (based on a story by producer Richard Silverman), makes a big deal out of “getting” EDM. Teens may be drawn in by the pulsing electronic dance music or stars Zac Efron and Emily Ratajkowski, but the material is definitely geared toward more mature viewers.Topless women are shown (and women are objectified in general), and there are sex scenes and kissing. It may not have you jumping up and down in unison with the crowd around you, but it might get you to tap your toes. Opens on Friday. Cast & Crew. Yes you laugh but forget that it's mortal kombat and listen to it. After you finish watching the movie you will see. In one scene early in “We Are Your Friends,” a Los Angeles … Did you ever doubt that Cole would hook up with Sophie or that a major character would die or that Cole would start listening to what the real world is trying to tell him? You have to take the time to actually open up your mind and pay attention to the small details to really understand this movie. Finding a visual equivalent for EDM (Electronic Dance Music) is a wickedly seductive temptation — not to mention building an emotional narrative around it. User Ratings But an intense focus on extra sensory visual flourishes meant to channel all the right vibes tends to distract from more important necessary developments, mainly the … Good advice. Living with his friends, then suddenly an opportunity knocks and followed by some issues surround it that should be solved to see the success in his passion in the music. I didn't have any emotions during the whole movie except maybe one scene that had me reminded of my ultra experience. I don't really know what message the director was trying to get across but he done the smart thing by putting Zac Efron in the lead because I doubt that it would have made a profit without him plastered all over the poster. We Are Your Friends. 1 hour 37 minutes. Conveniantly he meets James. In This Article: Maybe I'm in a place in my life where I need some serious hope, but I got it from this movie. Does We Are Your Friends hit its beat? The comparison is tempting, however; when my friend first introduced me to We Are Your Friends, he said he'd heard that it was a side project of an Apples in Stereo member. We Are Your Friends is a movie accompanying a soundtrack rather than the other way around. It looked a decent storyline on how an aspiring DJ is fighting to make progress. Whilst Djing at a night club, Cole gets chatting with an older DJ, James (Wes Bentley), who eventually becomes his mentor and teaches him the in's and out of producing in his lavish studio. Being A fan of the Genre and lifestyle its based around, I knew what to expect; a generic 'party' film with an interesting story line and enjoyable scenes.Unfortunately, it didn't deliver. Want more Rolling Stone? There is a few things you can think about after watching the movie and one of which is "How far are people willing to go for money" , "How hard it is to make it in the big leagues without school", and "What do people with money spend their times doing". The movie shows deeper meaning than what meets the eye, a lot of symbolism is used throughout. Trippy? Zac Efron stars as Cole, a struggling DJ on the California EDM scene who firmly believes all you need is a laptop, some talent and one killer track. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 38% based on 133 reviews, with an average rating of 4.93/10. A good, fresh movie, obviously geared towards younger generations with a mostly unknown cast and more than competent direction. Jeremy reviews "We Are Your Friends"! About an aspiring DJ and his friends circle. Those productions were mainly inconsequential Disney fluff, but they were fun to watch. We Are Your Friends has a great story, but it's not the direction the movie chose to follow. THE best techno of the time! By Tim Grierson, Senior US Critic 2015-08-25T08:01:00+01:00. In fairness, Cole is trying to do just that. It is a movie about a DJ and we all know how rough the plight of a … When he meets James (Bently) a DJ that is willing to mentor him he thinks he finally found what he wants. Zac Efron has done a lot of good movies IMO. It was worth renting for a few reasons but two of the biggest reasons are these two quotations: I just saw the film this afternoon. He was miscast as a doctor in the otherwise criminally underrated "Parkland" (2013) and in 2014, he was just annoying in "Neighbors" and in "That Awkward Moment" (which lived up to its title – more so, if it were renamed in its plural form). The film team review We Are Your Friends Zac Efron plays Cole, a super-hot young DJ with headphones always nestling around his neck, and three loyal and … How much you come away knowing about the music that is moving those people is another matter. If you need to kill an hour and a half go watch it, but if you want to see some good movie don't. Where the movie fails can be attributed to its title. "We Are Your Friends" is about what it takes to find your voice. It's because the movie left me without any impression. REVIEW: Call me crazy, but I actually went into WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS kind-of optimistic. “We Are Your Friends” with Zac Efron is not it. These questions all focus on one particular character. But to what purpose? Cole Carter (Zac Efron) has dreams of gaining notoriety as a Hollywood DJ and also spends his days and nights hanging out with his buddies while working on a track that he hopes will set the world on fire. ComingSoon.net's review of the EDM drama We Are Your Friends, opening on August 21 and starring Zac Efron, Emily Ratajkowski, and West Bentley. It is about more than just the parties, drinking, and sex. If you go into the theaters thinking that this movie is mostly about partying then you will be disappointed. I've come to wonder if, as an actor, he peaked in the "High School Musical" movies. Summary: Set in the world of electronic music and Hollywood nightlife, an aspiring 23-year-old DJ named Cole (Zac Efron) spends his days scheming with his childhood friends and his nights working on the … 'We Are Your Friends' has a beat, yet it seems that not many are dancing to it. When I first heard of the title being made I was kind of excited as we don't have many movies about DJ's. Cole, 23, lives on the fringes of the unfashionable San Fernando Valley and does odd jobs with his high school homies, volatile Mason (Jonny Weston), movie-star wannabe Ollie (Shiloh Fernandez) and nerdy Squirrel (Alex Shaffer). Efron actually does a pretty good job of portraying what the character is thinking when he is not speaking and only working his board. "Are we ever gonna be better than this?!" What helps are Efron’s low-key charm, Bentley’s ability to cut below the surface, and music supervisor Randall Poster’s skill at laying on the sounds, including the main score by Segal. Mucho mahalo https://www.instagram.com/lightboltjoehttps://www.twitter.com/lightboltjoehttps://www.facebook.com/brogandangerjones Efron has worked steadily ever since (which is more than we can say for most of the other stars from those films) and he has had varying degrees of success with his post-HSM roles (often simply as the brooding hunk). That being said, I actually liked this more than I expected to. They struggle to make something out of themselves with the center of the entertainment world just over the hills. Topless women are shown (and women are objectified in general), and there … “He used to be good,” says Cole to James’ hottie  girfriend and personal assistant, Sophie (Emily Ratajkowski). The movie called 'We are your friends' is about Cole. Zac Efron also (for those who still have some bias) is very good, it can easily "take" the film "back", going all the depth that (I think) was applied to the character. We're talking about We Are Your Friends today on Anatomy Of A Movie! I saw "We Are Your Friends", starring Zac Efron-Neighbors, 17 Again; Wes Bentley-The Hunger Games, Jonah Hex; Emily Ratajkowski-Entourage, Gone Girl and Jon Bernthal-Fury, The Walking Dead_tv. Very Neutral. But, as an audience, you wish that this promising, but generic film were better than this. Take It For What It Is & You Will Enjoy This, inspiring movie for anybody trying to become somebody, Not as horrible as I was expecting, but still not all that good. Zac Efron has dreams of being a better D.J. But unfortunately we get a movie more about clichés than we get about DJs themselves. Catfish’s Max Joseph marks his directorial debut with We Are Your Friends; a film depicting the club scene in the Los Angeles underbelly, and the experience of … Sign up for our newsletter. Yet Hollywood can sometimes surprise you with a masterpiece that will hold a place in your own hall of fame. Just got back from seeing it with my friend and we are in awe and reading these other comments make me confused on how people don't see the beauty in this film. I Can’t Believe It, Either. Average! | What hurts is that filmmaker Mia Hansen-Love did it better just a few months ago in Eden, about the French house movement since the 1990s. We Are Your Friends Works. Wes Bentley is incredible. Subscribe on YouTube: http://youtube.com/popcorntalknetwork Comment Below! And that was the main premise of the story. Well sit back, relax and read my thoughts on Max Joseph's We Are Your Friends. Cole soon finds out that trying meet the expectations of his friends, hiding his romantic feelings, and working on his music isn't as easy as he was hoping for. To quote one commenter, “Your review is by far not my experience after using MeWe for over two years.” At the time of this writing, there are 51 comments on this post. It’s not enough that Cole sees his idol’s feet of clay. The movie is a little generic and nothing all that special, but there was just something about it that kept me watching and entertained. I feel like the entire movie was going at 100mph, ensuring plot depth was minimal. Drama | Caught between a forbidden romance and the expectations of his friends, aspiring DJ Cole Carter attempts to find the path in life that leads to fame and fortune. But no! WAYF director Max Joseph has made a name for himself in recent years as co-host of MTV’s Catfish series – a show that distilled 2010’s doc namesake for a pop audience.. For someone contributing to the rise in reality TV quick-buck shock-baiting as seen on the channel, it was always going to jar seeing Joseph make a film about integrity and … This is one of those movies, without any deep meaning, that shall entertain you while you are watching it, but as soon as you walk out of if, you have forgotten it already. Zac Efron is great in the lead role, but his friends are complete throwaway characters. We Are Your Friends review – music drama marks return to form for Zac Efron Efron puts in a smart performance as a would-be DJ facing new frontiers We Are Your Friends… Take Zac Efron for example. So the remaining is to reveal how the things go on for him. We Are Your Friends contains about 30 minutes’ worth of an honest and inspired indie drama about a young DJ’s progress as both an artist and a man, but it’s dragged down by … WB. From its familiar yet nicely edited introductory credits, to its sweaty palmed electro enhanced climax, Max Joseph’s BPM booming coming-of-age drama We Are Your Friends sometimes surprises by tapping into an energetic vein of youth on a precipice. The Movie is similar as it's about Efron leading a group of men in their early twenties that really need to grow up, but That Awkward Moment was a hilarious comedy, while We Are Your Friends is more of a satire. Its no secret this movie bombed in the box office. Film Review: ‘We Are Your Friends’ Zac Efron is the fresh-faced young mixmaster at the center of Max Joseph's brashly entertaining but earnestly predictable EDM soap opera. Log in, register or subscribe to save articles for later. He is a beginning DJ who really wants to become famous doing what he loves. He and his friends Mason, Ollie, and Squirrel live in the San Fernando Valley. What’s the Difference Between N95 Masks and KN95 Masks? This is not an amazing movie and won't win any awards but I actually liked this much more than I was expecting to. That didn't stop me from watching it. Parents need to know that We Are Your Friends is a drama about DJ culture in Southern California's San Fernando Valley. We Are Your Friends Movies: Cole Carter s (Efron) dreams of becoming a famous DJ takes a step closer to reality when he is taken under the wing of a superstar (Bentley). W e Are Your Friends looks like a Pinterest page, but plays out like a productively lumpy mashup of The Wolf of Wall Street and Eden, another ode to rapturous music with a mopey disposition.An early montage is busy with Google maps and San Fernando Valley landmarks, cluttered over with block-lettered words simultaneously narrated by the DJ Cole Carter (Zac … Cole (Efron) is a DJ trying to make it big, all he needs is "that one track". | I've never seen any actor worse than Zac, yet he keeps making films. We are your friends, But We are not a very good movie. I thought it was so inspiring. He then rebuilds his relationship with James and he headlines a major event, were he debuts his record and rocks the crowd. Zac Efron, Emily Ratajkowski and Wes Bentley in 'We Are Your Friends'. Like I read in an earlier review, it was very superficial. Like the gyrating juveniles who assemble at the wannabe star’s make-or-break concert, We Are Your Friends just fails to find the right groove. I was really not looking forward to this at all. “I think now he just gives the people what they want.” Which is, of course, exactly what this movie does. But why he chose "we are your friends" is beyond me. ZE. There’s a good movie to be made about the DJ club scene. The director added some emotional elements to make it seem like it wasn't your regular American "spoilt youths" type of movie but it still turned out like it. EDM, Emily Ratajkowski, Zac Efron. We Are Your Friends 2015 ★★★★ Watched Feb 17 , 2020 Andrew McMahon’s review published on Letterboxd: We want to hear from you! So first-time feature director Max Joseph, of MTV’s Catfish reality series, earns points for trying to give our eyes and ears a soulful workout in We Are Your Friends. Ollie deals drugs and all the dudes sign on with Paige (Jon Bernthal), who runs a mortgage company that cheats people out of their houses. In short: A great film, airtight script, good soundtrack (yeah, forgot to mention that), and some exciting moments until, at the end of "We Are Your Friends" makes a really cool message and fulfills its role, showing a different way of see music. We Are Your Friends shouldn't have been about friendship or having each others backs or whatever they were trying to go for because that is by far the weakest element of the movie. While the film doesn’t reinvent the dramatic story of an aspiring artist who dreams of making it big, it arranges the raw materials in an exuberant, stylish way – kind of like a good EDM song – even if some plot mechanics drain a bit of the verve from the melody. keithlovesmovies 23 September 2015. By Jake Wilson. By Bilge Ebiri. This movie is mostly focused on these 4 guys in their mid 20s trying to get their lives together without the help of education. I could have liked this film if it was done by some other young actor. There are some great sequences in here, with great visuals and graphics, very visually appealing and even informative. We Are Your Friends boasts magnetic stars and glimmers of insight, but they're lost in a clichéd coming-of-age story as programmed as the soundtrack's beats. Another "Party Movie Of The Year" wannabe. | If you have to look up the full form of EDM, … I'm not a big Zac Efron fan, nor am I a fan of this type of house music. I recommend every one to see it and I'm sorry if I'm raising your expectations too much but this is my opinion and it was beautifully written and acted out. Nothing else happens until Cole meets and impresses James Reed (an outstanding Wes Bentley), a hard-drinking DJ icon who intros Cole to the right people and, oh yeah, PCP.