Now that I have you all hear, I am going to say that “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”. I had it all planned out, I was going to go into a movie that I knew wouldn’t turn out well, and even had some great puns, like “friends don’t let friends watch bad movie”, but now I think it is all for nothing. I mean would a movie that said it was about a guy caught between a forbidden romance and the expectations of his friends, all while trying to find fame and fortune as a DJ, sound good to you? Before you answer that question let me try and break it down for you a little better.
Cole (Zac Efron) is an aspiring DJ. What that means is he spends a lot of time with headphones on in front of his laptop, and of course spinning at a local club. Cole might have not found his groove yet, but he is having fun while trying to find it. While Cole plays the music his friends take care of the rest. You have Mason (Jonny Weston) doing the promoting, Ollie (Shiloh Fernandez) providing the party refreshments, and Squirrel (Alex Shaffer) who doesn’t do much, other then have a cool name. Things start to change with Cole meets James (Wes Bentley), a DJ riding on his past success and his assistant/girlfriend Sophie (Emily Ratajkowski) who is currently trying to figure it all out. James sees something in Cole and tells him he needs to find his own sound, which takes some life changing events for him to discover.
Now that sounds a lot better then the vague synopsis the film gave its self. Given that and the trailer that doesn’t look inviting at all, and you have a movie that might not do to well. I thought, am here to tell you, it really isn’t that bad. Written by Meaghan Oppenheimer and Max Joseph, the later who also directed, the film at times feels like a party and an excuse to show pretty people. Now that sounds pretty shallow, but there is a little more then just a good time. That though is where the film struggles, because when it is all said and done, it feels like it is trying to self appoint its self at the voice of the millennials. The problem is you can’t self appoint your as the voice of a generation, you have to be appointed. This though is coming form a guy in his early forties, or in easier terms, not a millennial, so who am I to say if it is the voice or not, that is for time to decide. For all that is not right with “We Are Your Friends” there is enough things that are, that make the film easy on both your ears and your eyes. While I won’t be standing on a hill shouting at the top of my lungs to see this movie, at the same time you won’t find me telling you to stay away. In this case if you feel the need to see this movie, then do, but if you do, just make sure to take your friends, because everything is better that way.