Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

lhunt-9 This is absolutely one of the freshest of the recent crop of movies. Simple and disarming, the gentle narrative takes you in and brings alive the stories of young people growing up in Stockholm in the 80s. We begin with two girls, Klara and Bobo, both of whom are somewhat invisible to the adults in their lives as well as to their peers. They are creative enough to explore and experiment with the freedom that their marginal status paradoxically accords them. We see Klara, the dominant personality, challenged in subtle and direct ways by Bobo, who, though more reticent, is actually an equally strong character. One of the most touching aspects of the film is the girls' decision to take in Hedvig, a talented classical guitarist who is more socially disconnected than they, as their close friend. Hedvig proves also to be their equal. Together, the three girls literally ignite as they discover their ability to collaborate in forming a punk band and writing their own music, taking on largely innocent modes of rebellion to create their own niche in a world that mostly leaves them free to find their own way. The girls are up to the challenge, with the result that the viewer's time spent with them on-screen is richly rewarded. A highlight is the girls' theme song, "Hata Sport" ("Hate the Sport") in which they argue that there are more important things in the world than the next sports competition and "throwing your ball." The real delight of the film is watching all three girls' personalities develop. A breath of fresh Scandinavian air.

Josh Friesen While We Are the Best! may not be the best film of the year, it was my favourite film of the year. I can't remember the last time a film contained so much genuine warmth and pleasure. This heart warming and beautifully written story about the aimlessness of being a teenager had me smiling from ear to ear for the entirety of the running time. Unlike Boyhood, which provides the perspectives of both children and parents over an extended period of time, We Are the Best!, is a time capsule of a film, giving us the subjective perspectives of three young girls during a key part of their childhood. Veteran Swedish writer and director Lukas Moodysson, provides us with a glimpse into the lives of these young girls as they form a punk band despite two of them having no musical experience. They are indeed terrible, but the film isn't about punk music, it's about the punk attitude that perfectly captures the defiance of being a teenager. A loving ode to growing up, We Are the Best! Is easily the most charming film of the year.

jdesando "We must be careful not to discourage our twelve-year-olds by making them waste the best years of their lives preparing for examinations." Freeman Dyson This girl punk band is definitely not the best, but their story is one of the best little films you will see about adolescence, its ennui, and its creativity. Three young girls around 12 are stereotypically bored with their parents and in love with rock n roll, out of which love they transcend their soporific life by forming a band.If for nothing else, We are the Best! is exclaiming the transformative power of music to lift spirits and connect with the world, this time outside of Stockholm in 1982, when singing about Brezhnev and Reagan and the danger of nuclear anything makes electric music and connects young, disaffected pseudo-punk girls with excitement and a small part of the outside world.The actresses are natural, attractive, and invested in being adolescents although I suspect they long ago passed 12 years old. Director Lucas Moodysson, adapting his wife, Coco's graphic novel has caught the silliness and loneliness of young girls who, with little talent but loads of chutzpah can be happy with a life they, not adults, frame for themselves. Thus they become the best for themselves.

laserdanger We follow Bobo and her best friend Klara through their tween years. Both of these girls share little in common with their classmates and by default are relegated as misfits. The world they inhabit is not particularly cruel to them and because of this it is hard to sympathize with their radical views surrounding God and good taste. The lack of compression in conjunction with the relative length of the film led to a lackluster ending. The events all fell into place relatively easily. I never saw a raw drive in these girls. It has to be noted that what was portrayed was not necessarily the world rejecting them but their choice to reject the world around them. Because of this these characters must compel us and win us over. The big show at the end lacked the emotional weight and significance that it could have attained mostly because the girls really didn't fight that hard for the band.I relate to Bobo and am sympathetic to her but the film simply didn't go anywhere. The weak narrative structure necessitates a strong narrative voice which the story lacked. Bobo is interesting in that her body image issues, environment, and views give the story a lot to work with. The mousiness of her character held back the film especially considering that there was no defined antagonist acting against her or Klara.I would not recommend this film. It is the particulars of their world that make them unique and quite frankly punk could have been substituted for any number of things and the film would not have been much different. The film does not capitalize on the rich history of punk, it is merely a window dressing.