Movie review | Zac Efron’s latest won’t appeal to everyone, or anyone older than 21
We Are Your Friends **1/2
Zac Efron, who rose to fame in the “High School Musical” franchise, plays 23-year-old Sacramento Valley DJ Cole Carter, who, along with his millennial posse, dream of making it big.
The lower-middle class kids promote raves, deal drugs, do odd jobs, and try to channel their youth and good looks into a career, anything to get them out of the Valley.
In his directorial debut, 33-year-old Max Joseph handles some elements of the low budget ($2 million) film well. The acting is solid from Efron, Alex Schaffer (“Win Win”), Wes Bentley (“American Beauty”) and especially from Charleston native Johnny Weston (“Project Almanac,” “Chasing Mavericks”).
The film offers a glimpse into the L.A. club world, where pretty boy DJs are the new rock stars and all you need is “one track” to make it big. EDM mentor-turned-rival, super DJ James Reed, played by Bentley, along with Emma Ratajkowski as Sophie, the boys’ shared love interest, offer the strongest performances in a movie where Weston actually says before a street fight; “don’t bro me if ya don’t know me.”
Lots of fratboy roommate antics, masturbation jokes and exposed skin will appeal to the voyeuristic tendencies of some moviegoers, and former Disney Channel groupies, but not all.
What do those stars mean?
* Really, really, really bad. Don’t bother.
** Pretty bad, with one or more redeeming scenes.
*** Pretty good, but maybe not great, worth seeing for most
**** Really great, a winning combination of story, casting, and directing
***** The rarest gem, an all-around perfect motion picture
This story was originally published September 7, 2015 at 1:47 AM with the headline "Movie review | Zac Efron’s latest won’t appeal to everyone, or anyone older than 21."