Instagram founder Kevin Systrom sold his company for a billion dollars, so what are these four coming-of-age ‘bro’s doing wasting their time? In between luring young music lovers to ‘socials’ and gigs, for a fee, they are doing drugs, while nursing hopes of hitting big time. Since they live on the other side of the Hollywood valley, in San Fernando, one of them, not surprisingly, wants to become an actor; another hopes to make it as a Disc Jockey (DJ), with at least one of his own killer tracks to tout. Electronic Dance Music (EDM) rules the music scene, so all you really need is a laptop and some music sampling sense. And while Phencyclidine (PCP) may be the drug of the day, the aspiring DJ has cracked the code to make a hundred thousand-strong audience swoon. It involves getting Beats Per Minute (BPM) to match the heart-beat rate.

Cole Carter (no, not Cole Porter) is an aspiring DJ who spends his days scheming with his three childhood friends, and his nights working on the one track that he hopes will set the world on fire. In dire need of money, the gang of four take-up well-paying jobs a dubious estate agent’s call centre, and Cole, in particular, earns hefty commissions for his role in the con operation. All of this changes when he meets a charismatic but drugs and alcohol addicted older DJ named James Reed, who takes him under his wing after listening to his showcase track. Reed impresses upon him the need to eschew too much technology and use natural sounds in his music, like a hand-clap or a real drum, to reach out to human emotions. Things get complicated, however, when Cole starts falling for James' much younger, live-in girlfriend, Sophie. Sophie, a Stanford student who dropped out because she could not afford the cost of education, responds. Cole drifts away from his friends, and towards Sophie. Soon, James finds out about the affair, and confronts Cole. Cole admits, and prepares to see his dream of becoming an ace DJ fade away.

Director Max Joseph (MTVs Catfish: The TV Show, about twisted online relationships) wrote the screenplay, along with Meaghan Oppenheimer, from a story by Richard Silverman. None of these three are familiar to film audiences. Joseph also makes his feature directorial debut. Not a great one, if box-office is anything to go by. WAYF opened to $1.8 million in 2,333 theaters--the worst opening, for a 2,000+ theatres, live-action release, since 1982, according to Box Office Mojo. We Are Your Friends does not deserve to be assessed in such dim light. Although it has some big names in the cast, look at it as a first film, if you want to be objective.

Let’s work with facts. The film is full of clichés, and stock situations. One out of four friends makes it big, the most sensitive of them dies, the hero falls for his mentor’s girl-friend, and, a great co-incidence makes him create a hit track:  Jogging with de rigueur headphones on, Cole finds that his mobile phone battery has died. Suddenly, he is able to hear ambient sounds that he could not hear on account of his head-phones, like bells and a helicopter, and he incorporates them in his dubstep ‘composition’, adding voice mail and studio recordings of random phrases by Sophie. Guess what happens when he plays this ‘nature inspired’ music to an ocean of EDM crazed youth! To his credit, Joseph has no pretensions about the story of his film. He told Time magazine, “The story is very archetypal. We didn’t set out to reinvent the wheel when it came to the archetypal nature of a young person coming of age. Electronic music uses a lot of sampling and uses remixes. We’re remixing an old story.”

An obvious reference to the call centre guys who lure vulnerable, indebted, house-owners to sell of their property for a pittance, the film’s title is derived from the Justice vs. Simian song of the same name. Another song that forms part of the narrative is Drunk in Love, recorded by American singer Beyoncé, and featuring her husband, rapper Jay-Z. The track has won two Grammy awards this year, for Best R&B Performance and Best R&B song. On two occasions when he is DJing, Cole is asked to play this number, and both times he refuses, implying that it is a bad choice. There are several colourful graphics and voice-overs interspersed, like self-help revelations: one of these consists of the art of being a successful DJ, and appreciating the nuances between 125 BPMs and 127 BPMs, and how a mere two notches can work wonders.

Attractive and smooth animation is employed, using Rotoscoping, to capture Cole's PCP hallucinations at an art gallery. (PCP was developed in the 1950s as an intravenous anesthetic but, due to the side effects of hallucinations, delirium, and mania, its development for human medical use was discontinued in the 1960s. A 2010 study shows that use of PCP by high school seniors in the US has increased 0.1% since 2001, from 1.7 to 1.8%. In 2010, however, 1.0% of seniors used PCP at least once in the past year, which held steady from 2009).

Zac Efron (The Lucky One, Neighbours, That Awkward Moment) as Cole is charming, disarming, and capable of more than he has delivered here. Wes Bentley (American Beauty, Interstellar, The Hunger Games) as James seems too confident for his character, but is in his element when he breaks into a grin. Model-actress Emily Ratajkowski (Entourage, Gone Girl), playing Sophie, pouts like, and has some similarity in looks to, Indian actress Priyanka Chopra, though Emily has a longish face. She needs to mature, stop posing and think beyond her gait. Though it had all the shapings of a part with some depth, Shiloh Fernandez (Evil Dead) as the wannabe actor Ollie has limited opportunity to display his art. Jonny Weston (Insurgent, Taken 3) is the bald, short-tempered member of the group, a stereo-type that offers no scope for real acting. Alex Shaffer (Win Win) draws sympathy in a small role as the Jewish boy driven to an undeserving end. Jon Bernthal, the preying estate agent Paige is slick, suave and ruthless, as required. Alicia Coppola (not related to Francis Ford Coppola but the sister of producer Matthew Coppola; known for her TV work so far) makes a convincing Mrs. Romero, Paige’s hapless victim.

Music by Matthew Simpson is spirited and will gel with the target audience, and make them attempt various body waves.

We Are Your Friends plays on the ambitions, weaknesses and vulnerabilities of it characters. It also ends up displaying some inherent weaknesses in its own script and direction, and undistinguished ambition. Chances are that more viewers will unfriend it than friend it.

Rating: **

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZzAeYWXFpk