Bandslam is like the bastard child of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and High School Musical. It takes the almost-hipness of the first and squashes in the perkiness and stereotypes of the latter. But, don't let its enthusiasm fool you, dear readers, should you be bored this weekend and have already watched the greatly anticipated District 9 AND The Time Traveler's Wife (or should you need something to take your 'tween niece to), Bandslam is a decent option--albeit not near close to perfect.
Part of Bandslam's problem arises from the newcomer actor who plays our protaganist Will. Gaelan Connell, whose hair and lack of a chin tend to not muster up the prerequiste amount for you to genuinely root for him during the hell that is high school. Too harsh? High school wasn't a breeze for me either, so there. Anyhoo... Bandslam is Will's story as he is relocated from a shitty HS in Ohio to a shitty HS in New Jersey, where a battle of the bands competition almost tops Texas high school football frenzy. But that doesn't automatically make this school better, mind you. Granted, in this HS loner goth girls are played by Vanessa Hudgens (who tries to emote minus all the chipperness of her HSM character, but realizes that she actually just can't emote), and hot cheerleaders with perky blonde hair (Aly Michalka) who automatically befriend geeks. Seriously? How believable is this? Not very.
Will becomes friends with both ladies, who also sing--huh, how convenient--and the cheerleader, Charlotte, promptly makes him manager of her band because he has a knack for music--not so much playing, but an extensive knoweldge of punk rock, indie rock, and David Bowie. His fascination with Bowie, which I FULLY support, even strays over into a lovely little narration in which Will crafts epic letters to his Ziggy Stardust idol about the shittiness that is his life. But, in this little fantasy film, the nerdy, music-lovin', non-instrument playing loser becomes rock 'n' roll genius as he helps turn Charlotte's band from a Letters to Cleo knockoff into an Arcade Fire knockoff, complete with a keyboardist, horn section, and cellist, called I Can’t Go On I’ll Go On--which sometimes sums up my feelings for this movie.
Not that Bandslam is bad, mind you--it's not. It's like a less witty, smart, and repressively smug Juno. The acting is pretty okay, and even has a small role for Austin's own Jason Street (Scott Porter), who shows fans of Music and Lyrics more of his musical talent (which are far superior to Hudgens' waifish voice) and acting chops. Although, it's a wee bit distracting to see Porter with actors a whole decade younger than him. Also, the rapport between Lisa Kudrow as Will's mom and Connell is pretty cute. Yeah, I said it--it was cute.
And, ultimately the theme of the flick isn't so much about rock 'n' roll or chaste HS romances, but rather learning to be yourself and have confidence in that--even if you're singing a quasi-cheesy ballad with a bassist named Bug, or merely on the sidelines.
--Darcie Duttweiler
Will becomes friends with both ladies, who also sing--huh, how convenient--and the cheerleader, Charlotte, promptly makes him manager of her band because he has a knack for music--not so much playing, but an extensive knoweldge of punk rock, indie rock, and David Bowie. His fascination with Bowie, which I FULLY support, even strays over into a lovely little narration in which Will crafts epic letters to his Ziggy Stardust idol about the shittiness that is his life. But, in this little fantasy film, the nerdy, music-lovin', non-instrument playing loser becomes rock 'n' roll genius as he helps turn Charlotte's band from a Letters to Cleo knockoff into an Arcade Fire knockoff, complete with a keyboardist, horn section, and cellist, called I Can’t Go On I’ll Go On--which sometimes sums up my feelings for this movie.
Not that Bandslam is bad, mind you--it's not. It's like a less witty, smart, and repressively smug Juno. The acting is pretty okay, and even has a small role for Austin's own Jason Street (Scott Porter), who shows fans of Music and Lyrics more of his musical talent (which are far superior to Hudgens' waifish voice) and acting chops. Although, it's a wee bit distracting to see Porter with actors a whole decade younger than him. Also, the rapport between Lisa Kudrow as Will's mom and Connell is pretty cute. Yeah, I said it--it was cute.
And, ultimately the theme of the flick isn't so much about rock 'n' roll or chaste HS romances, but rather learning to be yourself and have confidence in that--even if you're singing a quasi-cheesy ballad with a bassist named Bug, or merely on the sidelines.
--Darcie Duttweiler
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