High School Band

Bandslam, in spite of the irritating Lisa Kudrow's character(who screams throughout with no reason), is a pure gem of the youth films. Great actors, great director and good story. Music-superb.Melodic rock is back, surviving (c)rap garbage taking the radio and mind-waves all over. Bandslam is simply an irresistible film which must be seen at any cost to be charges with the emotions and urban agenda gone long ago, so we all thought. DVD. Video.If you haven't seen it yet, rush to your closest DVD rental and you will experience two finest hours of high-end entertainment. Some tears too. David Bowie, eventually, does have an artistic touch himself, even when selecting of the feature films he will appear in. All compliments to the crew!!! Above and down the line! 'Dear David,...'

I didn't exactly choose to see this movie, it runs on a 24 hour movie channel on free to air. However, despite my cynical expectations I was pleasantly surprised. This film manages (just) to rise above the usual high school coming of age, misfit boy meets unlikely popular girl cliches not by directly avoiding them, but by both embracing them with sardonic humour, and unexpected twists. There is just the right mix of expected themes and tropes, yet the performances of the leads ( especially Hudgens) certainly make this a better than average coming of age teen angst drama. There are plenty of eye-rolling and cringe-worthy moments, but these are rarely lengthy. I invite the viewer to suspend cynicism ( at least a little ) and allow the diverse soundtrack to take one through the story, the closing sequence is remarkable. This is certainly not a lollipops and rainbows Disney trite offering- it has some very authentic dark moments which are not simply swept away by inane Pollyanna platitudes. Go on, give it a go.

This is not a real review, it should be taken more as a collection of impressions on the film.

Very classic film for kids with the usual band of losers who have to put on a big show, and up to this point this is a very normal film of very normal sufficiency but this film has a little something that raises it slightly making it worthy of something more than six and this thing is an unusual depth with which the film is approached especially in the first part even if this depth is then lost a little becoming strangely hasty as if it had to end quickly due to lack of time. So the film deserves a seven because it is a little deep as well as being a good film for teenagers.

I rate it an 8 only because for a PG movie kids younger than 12 might not get what the movie is about; though they might just think it's about singing. Which is not bad because the movie has excellent music selection, flows with scene transition very well. Teenagers will love this movie for sure; but parents will be pleasantly surprise. The dialogs are well written - witty and not contrive. Each characters and their dynamic are well developed and relatable. You laugh; you cry, but at the end you leave the theater with a smile on your face, forgetting that you have just spent almost 2 hrs in a theater. All actors were on point in playing their characters. Great casting. This is the sleeper movie of the summer.

Will Burton, has just moved to a new school. On his first day, he meets Sa5m (the 5 is silent), finding out about an event called Bandslam, a competition for local bands to win a record deal. Charlotte is forming a band, and decides to make Will the band manager...

On paper, Bandslam shouldn't work as well as it does. The story is predictable, it's very clichéd, and in places corny. The plot also has a number of plot holes in it. But despite all this, it is very enjoyable, and very well done.

One of the key reasons for this is the script. Co-written by the director, Todd Graff and Josh A. Gagan, the script takes time to flesh out it's main characters, although in parts the character Sa5m does feel under-written, but this could be due to scenes being edited out. There are twists to each character, which helps explain their actions, especially towards the end. Graff as director handles the material well, right up to the musical finale.

The cast are pretty good too. Vanessa Hudgens is the one getting most attention due to the High School Musical movies, does okay as Sa5m, an outsider. Aly Michalka, as Charlotte is better, but as I said, I think this is due more to her part being written better. However the real stand-out performance is from Gaelan Connell as Will. Lisa Kudrow gives good support as his mother, and in fact there isn't a bad performance in the movie.

The songs themselves aren't that bad, if not entirely memorable, which in a movie about a music contest is important.

At a time when the bigger summer block-buster movies are sacrificing character for visuals, it's good to see a movie that while not setting it's sights very high, gives it's movie proper, rounded characters. It deserves huge credit for that. In fact the best complement I can give this movie, is that it has a John Hughes vibe to it.

And that isn't a bad thing at all. Go enjoy.