While I must admit, We Are Your Friend is not the GREATEST film I’ve ever seen, I disagree with the reviews from critics. Primarily, I believe the film disastrous box office opening of outside of the top ten was a result of the tepid marketing and not the movies inability to appeal. For Instance, the name: We Are Your Friends, wdf, the name sounds like some alien movie. Furthermore, the trailer failed to positioned the concept effectively to audiences. We Are Your friend stars Zac Effron as Young Cole Carter dreams of hitting the big time as a Hollywood disc jockey, spending his days and nights hanging with buddies and working on the one track that will set the world on fire. Opportunity comes knocking when he meets James Reed, a charismatic DJ who takes the 23-year-old under his wing. Soon, his seemingly clear path to success gets complicated when he starts falling for his mentor's girlfriend, jeopardizing his new friendship and the future he seems destined to fulfill. First, the overall aesthetic and feel of the film was compelling..I thought the film tonally maintained a visual similarity to the sound of EDM music, unpredictable, sometimes messy with the timing of the bass drop always gets your heart thumping in your head. As I sat inside the theater I got a feel of California ambiance, achieved through the brightly lit shots, the variation of vibrant colors, as well as exploiting the contrast between the Valley’s sun-blasted suburbs and Hollywood’s chic nighttime enclaves which elicit an arousing atmosphere with the precise lighting and framing I think the characters, especially that of Emily Ratajkowski were great, though their desires may seem trivial or come across as your typical sensational mindset of this current adolescent generation. But let’s not forget these are things actual people deal with. The film holistically underscores the resonating influence of one’s imagination against the permeating pragmatism backdrop of one's usual everyday life It’s obvious in reality not everyone wants to go into a systematic business; some people just want to chase their passions and there is nothing provincial about that. Indeed, the very world of the film is absurdly tailored to the point of hyper-reality, with the closest parental figure left faceless just off frame, and the world of Los Angeles basically cut down into a myopic vision of… well, basically the sort of crowd you’d expect to see at an EDM festival. Nonetheless ,I was a fan of the filmakers keeping this small character as out of frame as possible, as the adults are clearly meant to be portrayed as the enemy (Or more accurately a metaphor for the old corporate systems that many young people find themselves afraid to enter as they have often lead to depression in the later years of many adults today. This is best illustrated in the second main adult character, the boss at the real estate company-and seeing as this was the only real “company” shown in the film it only reinforces what I have stated Many critics labeled the film as shallow. Such labeling would indicate the dreams of our youth as narrow-minded, therefore our society is wrought with adolescent zombies. Apparently We’re Your friend obviously was not meant for white collar old guys who are swimming in cash or that overzealous corporate employee. This film caters more for the millennials out there who aspire for something more than the pervasive indoctrination of a nine- to- five, resulting in them feeling lost because everyone else is telling them that what they really want to pursue is a waste of time. Apparently Zac effron’s character was not supposed to be too well rounded, he was supposed to feel like an ordinary person man so the audience can project themselves onto him and the issues he contends with daily. This allows for the thematic structure of one’s aspirations to be far more organic. What was strongly overlooked in many of the review was the fact that this film focus on included themes of mentor-ship. Many successful businessmen (Joel Salitan, Warren Buffet, Alan Nation) have made comments as to the importance of mentor-ship in the development of ones field. While many films push the same old spiel: school paves the way to success, this film exemplify a key lesson that most kids aren’t taught in life, that mentor-ship is fundamental in the growing process of one’s craft. This film was not supposed to be an existential examination of the woes of humanity, instead it was supposed to representation of a specific subculture and generation. This is a generation that so far has thrust society in an advance age where more inventive opportunities exist, as well as an environment that foster those passionate mindset to pursue these opportunities, rather than just put your heart in a box and put on a tie every morning to act as a cog in another machine. Honestly I thought this was an alright movie, with a lot of heart and subtle meaningful messages that many person can derive from and apply to their routine.
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