We Are Your Friends (15)

three stars

Dir: Max Joseph

With: Zac Efron, Diana Prince

Runtime: 96 minutes

BEING the tale of four wannabes from the Hollywood Hills, Max Joseph’s drama has an inevitable air of Entourage about it, with Zac Efron leading the way as Cole, a young buck who sees DJ-ing as his way to fame, fortune and femmes. When Cole meets older, richer DJ James (Wes Bentley) it looks like he has found a mentor, but complications soon follow courtesy of James’s beautiful partner and those now embarrassing pals. For most of the winningly brief running time, Max Joseph’s picture has all the heft of a paper tissue, but Efron is his usual charismatic self and the sunshine and raves vibe makes for a mellow watch.

Escobar: Paradise Lost (15)

three stars

Dir: Andrea Di Stefano

With: Benicio Del Toro, Josh Hutcherson

Runtime: 120 minutes

THE so-called King of Cocaine has his name in the title, but the life and times of Pablo Escobar are, oddly, not the main concern of Andrea Di Stefano’s drama. Instead, she tells the tale from the point of view of Nick, a young Canadian played by Josh Hutcherson, who becomes involved with Escobar via his niece. At first knowing him only as a “man of the people”, Nick begins to pick up on the glaringly obvious clues that Uncle Pablo is something more. Hutcherson tries his best as the innocent abroad, but the real attraction here is Benicio Del Toro as Escobar, yet he is largely kept on the sidelines.

Glasgow Film Theatre, August 31-September 3

The Dance of Reality (18)

four stars

Dir: Alejandro Jodorowsky

With: Brontis Jodorowsky, Pamela Flores

Runtime: 133 minutes

THOSE familiar with the work of Chilean auteur Alejandro Jodorowsky, helmer of El Topo and The Holy Mountain, knows he would never do anything so mundane as turn in a routine autobiography. In his first film since 1990’s The Rainbow Thief, Jodorowsky picks and mixes ideas and images from a life that began colourfully and grew ever more so. The dogs in fancy dress are just the start of what is a flu dream of a movie, endlessly barking but occasionally brilliant and funny too.

Glasgow Film Theatre, tomorrow-September 3