Zach Efron stars as a DJ struggling to make ends meet in the San Fernando Valley of California, in “We Are Your Friends”. 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 the one track that will open the door to a bigger career. All of this changes when he meets a charismatic but damaged older DJ named James (Wes Bentley), who takes him under his wing. Things get complicated, however, when Cole starts falling for James’ much younger girlfriend, Sophie (Emily Ratajowski). With Cole’s forbidden relationship intensifying and his friendships unraveling, he must choose between love, loyalty, and the future he is aiming for. “We Are Your Friends” is the latest in coming of age stories, but what really makes this story stand out is the creative backdrop of underground dance music, and the adult issues that the film chooses to tackle during a very griping second act. With all of that said, i enjoyed this movie, despite it getting mostly negative reviews from critics and audience alike. The movie definitely isn’t without it’s problems, as it suffers greatly during an opening half hour that feels like we are watching actors portraying a cardboard cut out of various group stereotypes. This combined with the setting of San Fernando as coming off as a ghetto, makes it very hard for the audience to get into this film. As a kid who grew up in Akron, Ohio, i know some people who would love that kind of lifestyle. It also tries to use the DJ profession as a scientific basis filled with statistics and diagrams, and it all just feels silly. But if you stick with it, Director Max Joseph’s feature might astonish you. This is a film about friendships from our youth dying off. It’s that inevitability that we all won’t end up in the same place, despite a united front between everyone. The film has a realism among young adults that i haven’t seen since 2007’s “Alpha Dog”, and a lot of that is on a screenplay that isn’t afraid to take chances. Efron continues to be solid in his more against the grain roles that he chooses to take on. Cole is naive, but that might be just what the script needs to get it going. The love triangle between the three main characters is what really kept me on the edge of my seat. Bentley is definitely the best acted role of the movie. He plays James with a kind of electric energy that we haven’t seen from him ever in film. It would be nice to see him take on more of these roles with depth to the backstory of his characters. Joseph also impressed me with his visual creativity in some of the productions of this film. Live action scenes are shot with a lot of surrounding backdrops to symbolize the paltry nature of one person’s dream in a grander picture. I also greatly enjoyed one club scene that involved the animation of every character while on drugs. It’s a fun trippy ride that i kind of wish the movie would’ve stuck with even longer. The film had the potential to be one of the bigger surprises of the Summer, but everything is kind of neatly packaged up by the end of the film. It’s a real shame, because the movie really hit many emotional notes with me, even if it meant sacrificing the good will of some of it’s characters. “We Are Your Friends” isn’t going to win over many audience members over the age of 22, but it will always hold a spot in this critic’s heart. There might not be enough to get you standing up and dancing, but the film will definitely always keep your toes tapping to the innovative beats.

6/10