We Are the Best! (2013)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Nice effects though.

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

As usual I was rather late on the "We are the best" party but I just finished watching it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I could not stop laughing at the scene when they were begging for money in the metro station as well as the scene when they were cutting Hetvig's hair. There was so much shameless and good-spirited humour within the film but those two scenes definitely stuck out for me.Personally I could relate to some parts, especially those that involved havoc during rehearsals. When I was still in school I formed a "band" with two friends that were two grades below me and one of them was beyond immature and could not keep still; practices became humour sessions and the buffoon-esque feel to it was so contagious that it didn't matter at times that we did more mucking around than actual practicing. Seeing this film reminded me of that time and I'm feeling quite nostalgic at the moment. I'm about to write to one of those friends telling him (not suggesting) to watch it and how we should definitely form a band once we're in the same country again. Anyways back to the film. It was almost hard to believe how good the actors were. Seriously they were like small adults, it made me feel sort of clueless looking back to when I was that age. It's got a cute vibe and just before you start questioning whether or not those kids are twelve or not, there's a fight over a boy that is there to remind us that we are dealing with young teenagers after all. I loved Klara's character as well as Hetvig's personal progression throughout the film, holding down the fragile friendship between the other two as well as letting loose with her more traditional ways while still managing to be the same person. I did not like Bobo's character as it was really self-centered although you could understand where she's coming from; not getting any action when those teenage hormones start kicking in can stir things up a bit. Oh and seriously? The crowd wanted to fight the teenage trio?? Lol if a group of teenage girls came to my town and started insulting it I would laugh like a madman and probably join them in their chorus. Respect.

I saw this movie 2 years after it came out, and everyone told me I must see it. Everyone said it was an underrated gem, and reading the reviews about this film, I was excited as ever! It even had a 97% on rotten tomatoes, which is really impressive. So what did I get? Well, for everyone who said this movie is "unique", you probably think that a movie like Boyhood has never been done before., (Look up 35 up, 49 up, and 56 up) This movie felt like a made-for-TV movie that was delayed for 20 years. Hell, this movie wouldn't even connect with kids in the 1980s (which is when the movie takes place)OK fine, enough of me complaining I'm gonna list all the flaws and go in further detail about them.1. You have seen this film already (a billion times) This is your ordinary "oh I want to do something that I have to do with other people so I need to find another person/people to help me" type of film. And then they have to work hard to get that person to get them into doing what they want and then later they get into a fight, and everything turns out OK and then they do the thing they wanted to do and the film ends. Unique right? This film makes Synecdoche, New York look like something a 10 year old would come up with (obvious sarcasm 2. How the kids are "so punk" This is probably the thing I hate the most. I love punk music, and I know it's tough to make an aggressive and hateful human being likable, but that doesn't count as an excuse. The kids are REALLY REALLY unlikeable. They are just egotistical pieces of crap and you really hate them. And when we are supposed to feel sympathy towards them (because the other kids make fun of them) you really don't feel anything. These things pop up a lot in the film, so thats why I give this film a negative review. Other than that, nothing above average happens in this film. The directing is OK, the cinematography is OK, the acting is OK. The only praise I have for this film is that the band doesn't become amazing at the end (and that's realistic for a band that didn't practice a lot and goofed off.

Cannot remember seeing a film I enjoyed as much as "We are the best!". Guess it helped being in a full cinema, noisy as well with so much laugh-out-loud laughter. At its heart the film is about two thirteen year olds, Bobo and Klara. Later a third girl, Hedvig, is introduced but it's the relationship between Bobo and Klara that makes the film. There's a scene with Bobo and Klara in bed together after a party held by Klara's older brother Linus which is especially poignant, reminiscent of the night time scene from "Stand by me" with Will Wheaton and River Phoenix. There are so many unforgettable scenes, some, because of their root in reality (like "Fools and Horses" for example) so belly achingly funny. Everyone, and I mean everyone, in front of and behind the camera is brilliant. It's mighty close to being the perfect film. I loved this film. It is the best!

Scandinavian filmmakers seem to have mastered the art of telling serious stories with just the right amount of humour and whimsy to prevent their films from becoming bogged down in earnestness. Of course, we can't apply such a sweeping generalisation to every filmmaker from the Nordic regions, but there certainly has been a series of such films in recent years (Simple Simon, The Liverpool Goalie) that have been as amusing as much as they have been insightful. Furthermore, several Scandinavian films of recent times – from Lilya 4 Ever to Turn Me On, Dammit to Let the Right One In and many more besides – have placed young characters front and centre of the narrative, often relying on hitherto unknown actors to carry the film, usually with surprisingly effective results. With We are The Best, Swedish director Lukas Moodysson (F***king Amal and the aforementioned Lilya 4 Ever) continues such traditions in presenting a bittersweet comedy that manages to effectively assay the trials and tribulations of teenage life in Stockholm in the early '80's.13-year-old Klara (Mira Grosin) is desperate to be a rebel, even if she has no idea what she might be rebelling against. She shares a love of punk music with her best friend BoBo (Mira Barkhammar), a fellow outcast amongst the cliques and social factions of their high school. The girls are all but inseparable and, initially in an effort to spite a group of older boys at the local youth club, they decide to start a band, even though neither of them can play an instrument. Their initial attempts to write a song are farcical and they soon recruit Hedwig (Liv Lemoyne), a quiet Christian girl who just happens to possess considerable skill as a guitar player. There is a great naturalness to these characters as they react and interact with each other and the various other people in their periphery, such as their parents and two well-meaning but utterly clueless supervisors from the youth centre. The girls know that they don't really fit in with the other kids, but they are yet to find their own place in the world. The characters seem very real; laden with the uncertainty and the search for identity that we all experience at that time in our lives. Klara's tough exterior masks her inner vulnerabilities and insecurities, while BoBo is all but invisible to everybody except her best friend. At one point Bobo's mother is so focused on entertaining a potential new boyfriend that she is completely oblivious to the fact that her daughter isn't home; it is only a phone call from BoBo that alerts her to the fact. For Hedwig, meanwhile, these new friendships lead her to question the values and ideologies – instilled by her pious mother – that have thus far shaped her life.Whilst the film looks a little rough around the edges at times and there are moments that, in the hands of Harvey Weinstein, would have been lost in the edit, it seems a deliberate ploy by Moodysson to linger on the awkward silences and seemingly banal conversations to reflect the everyday-ness of this world in which these girls exist. Much of the humour comes from Klara's attempts to find an outlet for her anger through song. The problem is that she doesn't really have anything to be angry about, or much of a talent for song writing, so it is the school PE teacher becomes the target of her 'fury'. Despite only having one song in their arsenal – Hate the Sport – the girls are given an opportunity to perform at a local band showcase, an appearance that brings the film to a chaotic and downright hilarious end; a climax that is as surprising as it is perfect for these three clueless but utterly endearing wannabe rebels.As you might expect from a story revolving around three teenage girls, experiments with alcohol and the pursuit of boys form part of the story and Moodyson elicits spirited, engaging performances from his three inexperienced young leads. Whilst the film is certainly not a celebration of punk music as an intellectual exercise – epitomised by the song Brezhnev and Reagan, F**k Off that is performed by the all-male band with whom the girls develop a relationship – We Are the Best most certainly posits the appeal of punk as an outlet for those who don't fit in anywhere else. Delivered with a warm-hearted vitality, We Are the Best is, first and foremost, a joyous, vibrant celebration of adolescent female friendship.