Reel Rating: 4 out of 5 Reels
MPAA Rating: PG for some thematic elements and mild language
Released in Theaters: Aug. 14, 2009
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Musical
Runtime: 111 minutes
Directed by: Todd Graff
Cast: Gaelan Connell, Vanessa Hudgens, Lisa Kudrow, Aly Michalka
Sex/Nudity: Flirting between characters, and a couple of mild kisses. A high school senior thinks a mom is hot and kisses her by surprise.
Violence/Gore: None.
Profanity: Mild insults like “morons,” “nerds,” and “idiots.”
Which Kids Will Like It? Kids 10 and older who like movies involving teens, nerds and/or music, like Napoleon Dynamite or The School of Rock.
Will Parents Like It? Yes, “Bandslam” is fun for both kids and adults. The message is that kids are more than the cliques where they get pigeonholed.
Review: If, like me, you were expecting “Bandslam” to be something akin to “High School Musical,” you’d be dead wrong!
Yes, there’s a teensy bit of sap in this movie, but nothing like the volume offered up in Disney’s HSM. This is Summit Entertainment, after all, which automatically kicks it to a different level. The soundtrack includes Lou Reed’s "Femme Fatale" and Steve Wynn’s "Amphetamine," and David Bowie is an integral part of the story. You wouldn’t get that with Disney.
Vanessa Hudgens is the known star here, but it’s really an ensemble cast, all revolving around Gaelan Connell’s character, Will Burton. In the opening scene, Will is being kicked around and made fun of at his high school. He’s the class nerd and the target of bullies and jocks. And right away, we learn that he has a secret, only we don’t get to know what it is until the end of the movie.
Will and his mom Karen (Lisa Kudrow) move to a new town and a new high school, where he falls in with former cheerleader Charlotte (Aly Michalka). The fact that she befriends a nerd is another mystery, which we learn more about later in the movie.
Will also befriends a sullen Vanessa Hudgens – her name is Sa5m (the 5 is silent) – who tries to warn him about Charlotte. But he gets ever more friendly with Charlotte and ends up managing her band, made up of other nerds. The main story revolves around a "battle of the bands" contest called Bandslam, with the winner getting a recording contract.
Charlotte’s band includes a rag-tag group of kids, including Charlie Saxton (Ray Drecker’s son on HBO’s “Hung”), Tim Jo, Ryan Donowho, Elvy Yost, and Lisa Chung. Competing against Charlotte’s band is a band fronted by her former boyfriend Ben, played by Friday Night Lights’ Scott Porter.
How to sum up Bandslam? It doesn’t break any new ground in cinematic history, but it’s a good movie. I think of it as Napoleon Dynamite meets The School of Rock meets The Breakfast Club. Funny, heartfelt, dramatic, engaging.
Music lovers will appreciate the soundtrack, which includes the aforementioned tunes, as well as David Bowie’s "Rebel Rebel" and Rick Nielsen’s "I Want You to Want Me." Nerds will appreciate the nerdy-boy-makes-good storyline. And parents will appreciate the fact that there’s more to these characters than meets the eye – something you don’t often get in a movie about teens.
Jane Boursaw is a family entertainment writer specializing in movies and TV. Visit her at Reel Life With Jane; follow her on Twitter; become a friend on Facebook; email jboursaw@charter.net.
