“We Are Your Friends,” directed by Max Joseph and starring Zac Efron, Wes Bentley and Emily Ratajkowski, provides a pretentious, clichéd ridded but acceptable film. 

This movie has a lot of problems, most of which come from the inexperienced directing of Joseph. Besides a boatload of music videos, he has no credits to his name. Music directing is great for visual creativity — which this film does well — but it is rarely known for character depth.

There is only one dynamic character in “We Are Your Friends.” Wes Bentley’s character has real motivations and faults, and he is not even the main protagonist.

I enjoy “We Are Your Friends” trying to make a film connected to today’s pop culture and stylistic choices, just not with this level of arrogance.

The shining light actually comes in the form of a cliché. Overall, the movie tells the common story of a creative mind, fighting a normal life to live creatively, only to find the dark side of originality.

When the movie sticks to this, and the adventures it takes Efron’s character on, “We Are Your Friends” succeeds at gripping its audience. It hits virtually anyone who ever had an artistic passion.

Stars: 2.5 out 5. 

Jacob Pierce can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JacobPierce1_DE.