Review Roundup: Zac Efron Stars as Aspiring DJ in WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS

Zac Efron stars in the new romantic drama WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS. The film was directed by Max Joseph (CATFISH) who co-wrote the screenplay with Meaghan Oppenheimer.

Set in the world of electronic music and Hollywood nightlife, an aspiring 23-year-old DJ named Cole spends his days scheming with his childhood friends and his nights working on the one track that will set the world on fire. All of this changes when he meets a charismatic but damaged older DJ named James, who takes him under his wing. Things get complicated, however, when Cole starts falling for James' much younger girlfriend, Sophie. With Cole's forbidden relationship intensifying and his friendships unraveling, he must choose between love, loyalty, and the future he is destined for.

Along with Zac Efron, WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS stars Wes Bentley, Emily Ratajkowski, Jonny Weston, Shiloh Fernandez, and Alex Shaffer.

Let's see what the critics had to say!

Nicole Herrington, The New York Times: If the filmmakers were aiming to mimic the flow of electronic dance music, they succeeded. The action slowly builds and breaks down, with dance beats kicking in periodically. Not much resonates here; it's all facile entertainment. This is not the fault of its stars; Mr. Efron and Mr. Bentley do what they can with the material.

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Finding a visual equivalent for EDM (Electronic Dance Music) is a wickedly seductive temptation - not to mention building an emotional narrative around it. 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 inWe Are Your Friends. 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.

Justin Chang, Variety: At long last, fans of Electronic Dance Music have a movie to call their own - a moving and authentic portrait of the artist as a young DJ, struggling to find himself in that tricky gray zone where personal and professional desires converge. But enough about Mia Hansen-Love's "Eden." For viewers who prefer their coming-of-age stories told in broad, believe-in-yourself brushstrokes, say hello to "We Are Your Friends," a brashly entertaining, none-too-persuasive tale of a talented 23-year-old musician from the San Fernando Valley trying to penetrate the glittering upper echelons of Hollywood nightlife. Striving to capture a definitive screenshot of millennial angst, Max Joseph's formally creative, dramatically conventional directing debut probably won't earn raves from EDM devotees, particularly those who reject the notion of Zac Efron as their head-banging Hollywood poster boy. Still, there's no denying that the star's hard-to-resist appeal will draw mainstream eyes and ears to a picture that would rather spin an accessible underdog yarn than tap into the more resonant specifics of its milieu.

Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair: This is a thoughtfully built film, even if every technical flourish or bit of whimsy-text filling the screen at various moments, for example-doesn't quite work. They've tapped an interesting vein here, and I'd like to see more of it. We're finally due for some earnest, weighty stuff about millennial culture. While The Social Networkturned the legend of Facebook into a classical tale of hubris and hinted-at hamartia, We Are Your Friends takes a traditional trade movie-the Cocktails, the Quicksilvers, the Boiler Rooms-and infuses it with enough youthful, entrancing chiaroscuro to make it feel original, and vital. I didn't just want to dance at the end of We Are Your Friends, I wanted to say "Amen."

Caitlin Moore, The Washington Post: Saying you're a DJ used to conjure up images of radio hosts and men in baseball caps bent over turntables. Nowadays, the job description involves tapping out strokes on a keyboard and bouncing around behind a table. "We Are Your Friends" aims to infuse some heart, both literal and figurative, into the world of electronic dance music (EDM) and the DJs that make it thrive.

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian: Here is a fatuous film about DJ-ing and clubbing in Los Angeles, whose tired music-video cliches and Entourage-style bro-love would be wearisome at the best of times. But coming so soon after Mia Hansen-Løve's genuinely passionate movie Eden, on the same subject, it really is dispiriting.

Kyle Smith, New York Post: The film is a debut narrative effort from writer-director Max Joseph, whose credits include MTV's "Catfish" and TV commercials. Like many small-screen directors, Joseph knows how to cut and slam - a dance/love scene in Las Vegas shimmers and sparkles - but he also knows when to play it slow, when to be still. A scene in which Cole, whose phone dies when he's jogging, learns to listen to the San Fernando Valley is beautifully done, and it ties into a vital tip from James about where art comes from. You imitate the masters until you know their every trick - then stop imitating and create.

Jordan Hoffman, New York Daily News: While simple and predictable, "We Are Your Friends" still has a lot going for it. It cribs from classics as diverse as "Saturday Night Fever" and "All About Eve," maintains a brisk pace and taps into a sense of millennial economic unease.

Devan Coggan, Entertainment Weekly: Directed by Max Joseph (MTV's Catfish), the film fakes emotion with flashing lights and a pulsing soundtrack, and before Cole realizes the music was in him this entire time (ugh), the story falls flat.

Jon Frosch, Hollywood Reporter: We Are Your Friends is predictable, sometimes tacky, but the energy is unflagging, the eye candy plentiful and writer-director Max Joseph (making his feature debut after hosting MTV's Catfish) brings sincerity and a skillfully modulated sweetness to the material. Don't be shocked if the movie steamrolls past your defenses - unless you're an EDM aficionado, in which case you'll surely find reason to roll your eyes.

Photo Credit: Official Facebook

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