College Rock Stars

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.

This high school musical movie actually contains one of HSM's stars, Vanessa Hudgens, plus Lisa Kudrow as the single mother of the protag, Will Burton (Gaelen Connell), who is delighted when his mom finds a way to take them to live in a new place, Lodi, New Jersey. He was more then ready for a change. In one of the chatty emails to David Bowie that provide the narration, he calls his old high school "Guantanamo with lunch breaks." What happens at the new school? Will gets lucky. Real lucky. He gets paired off with Vanessa Hudgens in a class, and they become a couple. A former Alpha Female called Charlotte (junior prom queen, head cheerleader), played by Alyson Michalka, finds out Will has an encyclopedic musical knowledge and recruits him to meld her garage band into one that can beat the high school's reigning Glory Dogs and win the tri-state (NY, NY, CN) "bandslam." One obvious motive is that she wants to beat the Glory Dogs to trounce its lead singer, Ben Wheatly (Scott Porter), because he is her snotty former boyfriend. Aside from Ben, a generic model of testosterone overconfidence, Graff (mostly) steers clear of high school stereotypes.

This sets up a trajectory for the film that's like an older kids' version of Richard Linklater's 'School of Rock,' but Gaelen Connell is no Jack Black and the pathway to the big event isn't as cute -- or as climactic. That was one of Black's triumphs, but on the other hand Connell himself is way cuter than Jack Black, whose closest lookalike is the base guitarist, a Flea imitator who calls himself Bug (Charlie Saxton). Resembling young Tom Hanks or maybe John Cusack, with a weak chin, a sweet little smile, a mini Afro and a wrinkled brow, you can almost believe Connell's Will might actually be in the constant company of the school's hottest chicks. Not quite. He's not as articulate and soulful as Cusack, and not as edgey and dark as Christian Slater was in 'Heathers' or 'Pump Up the Volume.' But then Hudgens isn't the shiny, prefab girlfriend of Zac Efron this time. Au contraire. She gets to be the dark one. She calls herself Sa5m ("the 5 is silent"), wears dark clothes, and she reads all the time, even when Will's trying to kiss her.

When you think of Eighties youth classics like those two Slater was in, Bandslam looks generic. We'll just never relive that great Eighties youth movie moment or see the likes of the late, great John Hughes again. But when you compare Bandslam to 'High School Musical,' you realize this is not the kind of movie that you pan. It deserves encouragement. The screenplay by Graff and Josh A. Cagan is packed with inessential cuteness and never takes its dark moments seriously enough -- even though it pushes them too hard. The music Will leads the band into is bland -- and loud. There's none of the joy in rock frenzy that Jack Black comically evokes. Maybe Wil's expertise -- his celebratory (and still pretty touching) visit to the ruins of CGMG, where punk began -- may seem more a reflection of the 50ish director than a teenager. But none of that matters enough to maul this movie, unless you're desperate to show how musically hip you are. The cast is just too appealing and the action is just too much fun to write them off.

When Will reshapes the band by adding brass and an Asian girl classical keyboardist (Lisa Chung) and an elphin-spouting nerdy girl cellist (Elvy Yost) and a boy drummer called Basher (Ryan Donowho) whose majors are machine shop and anger management, if feels like he's bringing something to life (however silly the music), and Jack Black was just a puppet master. It's also good that Kudrow really seems like a single mom trying not to get too much in the way of her son's new life but still protective and sometimes forgetting herself and making him a friend, or as he says "doing that thing of talking to me like I'm Oprah." Sometimes Todd Graff's perky cuteness seems pretty real. Connell has been compared to a Michael Cera "without the sweetness." "Thank you Shia LaBeouf and Michael Cera" is something Connell has actually said, "for paving the way for someone like me to be the leading guy in a movie." But Connell is Connell. LaBeouf would be a lead weight here, and Cera would swamp the movie with his indie quirkiness. The best thing about Connell is he's not a scene stealer: he's a catalyst. He makes this movie built around him an ensemble picture, and everybody looks pretty good.

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.

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.