Could Zac Efron’s upcoming romantic sex comedy, Are We Officially Dating be the new American Pie? The former Disney heartthrob leads a fresh-faced ensemble that includes Fright Night’s Imogen Poots, in the film due out this fall.
Efron plays one of three Manhattan-based best friends who make a pact to remain wild bachelors even as they begin to find potential love. A buddy comedy like this, highlighting the sexual dynamic between young men and women can easily come off as crass or worse, clichéd, but hopefully writer director, Tom Gormican navigates these tricky waters with the same hilarious sensitivity and keen observations that the Weitz Brothers brought to their 1999 teen classic.
Though this film’s success won’t rest entirely in Gormican’s hands. Zac Efron, coming off a string of starring roles in some major disappointments, needs to prove that he can keep his loyal fan base while finally attracting a more adult audience. First breaking out in the High School Musical films, and then in Hairspray, Efron has clearly been able to project onscreen charisma, not to mention smolder on cue. Unfortunately, he just doesn’t land the decidedly complex adult roles of say, a Joseph Gordon-Levitt, nor the buzzy parts in the films of A-list directors that have made Shia Labeouf’s transition from Nickelodeon to Lars von Trier so seamless.
Despite some solid work in 17 Again, and Richard Linklater’s underrated, Me and Orson Welles, not to mention that ripped body that seems to get better by the day, Efron has yet to play that signature role that announces his arrival onscreen as an intriguing and complicated leading man. But let’s be fair, Gordon-Levitt has 6 years on the blue-eyed young actor and Labeouf’s collaborations with top tier directors like Steven Spielberg and Oliver Stone, while certainly increasing his profile, have not brought the controversial actor any closer to Ryan Gosling or Michael Fassbender style acclaim.
I’ll say this, Efron made a creative leap forward when he decided to work with Precious’s Lee Daniels in the director’s fascinating if still a train-wreck-of a film, The Paperboy. Starring alongside Matthew McConaughey, and Nicole Kidman, he plays a Florida wannabe lothario in love with Kidman’s slutty prison moll. Though sadly, while his brave choice delivered some buzzy scenes with both established actors, particularly Kidman—I’m sure you’ve heard of the jellyfish incident– it’s still difficult to see past his blonde locks, tight body, and sky blue eyes to the core of the character he’s trying to play. I don’t blame Zac for this however, because Mr. Daniels lights and films his young star as if this is a Paul Morissey Trilogy.
Fans of the heartthrob need not despair however, because 2013 is shaping up to be Zac Efron’s year. In addition to Are We Officially Dating?, he’s set to work with another first time director, Peter Mandesman, filming Parkland, about the events surrounding the Dallas hospital where Kennedy’s body was taken the day of his assassination. Ill admit however, the film could have the plot of an Adam Sandler farce, and be directed by Uwe Boll for all I care with a cast that includes current Oscar nominee Jackie Weaver, Paul Giamatti, and a gone-too-long, Billy Bob Thornton.
Also in pre production, and starring Efron, are two comedies with some serious A-list pedigree. He teams up first with Jason Batemen and Leslie Mann (very funny opposite the young hunk in 17 Again) in This Is Where I Leave You, and then with Seth Rogan, in the film, Townies, from Forgetting Sarah Marshall’s Nicholas Stoller. I’d love to see these movies do for him what Pineapple Express did for James Franco, though minus the subsequent immersion in esoteric “serious cinema”.
Let’s not forget “At Any Price” starring Efron and Dennis Quaid, set to release in select theaters on April 26, 2013.
Anyway, also fairly new, but like Efron, acting since she was a child, is rising star and Zac’s Me And Orson Welles costar, Imogen Poots. Actually, Poots only had a small part in the indie gem, to add to her small parts in big budget films, V for Vendetta and 28 Days Later. But after this young Scarlett Johansson look alike played the sexy girlfriend of Anton Yelchin in 2011’s Fright Night remake, people started to take notice.
Raised in the UK, she along with Juno Temple and Felicity Jones represents a new breed of young British actress that combines the chops of their forebears, with an American frankness and lush sun-kissed beauty that plays well over here. Think along the lines of the healthy and voluptuous Kate Winslet, as opposed to the swooning English roses, Carrie Mulligan and Keira Nightly.
Anyway, the campy Fright Night is the only film I’ve seen the starlet in, and let’s just say that like Efron, she’s got the charisma part down, but she has a way to go before she distinguishes herself for her acting. In fairness, I didn’t give her the full attention she deserved however, because I was so distracted by Yelchin, Colin Farrell, and Toni Collette, three of the most versatile an underrated actors working today. Though picking films like that schlocky gore fest might explain why.
Needless to say, the hot young actress has to prove herself before she can be considered at the level of say a Temple or a Jones. But her starring role in Are We Officially Dating?, might be just the part to do so. If not, perhaps the plethora of hot upcoming roles she’s attached to will.
First up is the March 2013 release of The Look of Love from 24-Hour Party People’s Michael Winterbottom, with fellow Brits, Stephen Fry, and Anna Friel. Next, she has no joke, 7 films in either pre- or post-production, including Filth opposite James McAvoy and already one the most talked-about films of next year, Terrance Malick’s Knight of Cups with Christian Bale and Natalie Portman.
I’m sure though, that first time writer director Tom Gormican hopes his flick is the one to fully legitimize both Poots, and Efron. This is the first film with Gormican at the helm, but he clearly has a knack for casting, as evidenced by his presence as a producer on the craptastic but star-filled Movie 43. Fingers crossed that casting is all he had to do with it, but who knows?
Naturally, I hope Are We Officially Dating falls more along the lines of the smart and underrated work of the Weitz Brothers, whose turn of the millennium films, from American Pie, to About a Boy, to In Good Company examine the sexual politics between groups of friends as well as young people in frank refreshing ways. If so, get set for a buzzy adult sex comedy starring two of the hottest soon-to-be-A+-listers in Hollywood.
CLICK HERE to see Zac Efron talking about deeper, darker roles.
CLICK HERE for “At Any Price” Official Facebook page and to see the trailer.