[C]alculated for sweet, feel-good blandness. And not the rock 'n' roll kind of feel-good, either, unless you think the Jonas Brothers rock hard.
Comment
08/13/09
Bandslam (2009)
80
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:87
Fresh:70
Rotten:17
Average Rating:6.4/10
Consensus: Bandslam is an intelligent teen film that avoids teen film cliches, in an entertaining package of music and coming-of-age drama.
Theatrical Release:12-08-2009
Synopsis: Disney Channel superstars Vanessa Anne Hudgens (High School Musical 1 & 2, High School Musical 3) and Alyson Michalka (Phil of the Future, pop duo Aly and AJ) join Gaelan Connell (Chocolat), Scott... [More]
Starring: Gaelan Connell, Vanessa Hudgens, Alyson Michalka, Lisa Kudrow
Director: Todd Graff
Reviews for Bandslam
Instead of the vapid drivel you'd expect from their Disneyfied crowd, Bandslam turns out to be a charming (and well-soundtracked: Hello, Wilco!) little parable for the tween set about first crushes, friendship and like, duh, the power of music.
08/13/09
The outcome isn't exactly in doubt, but the ride is pleasant enough along the way. Connell in particular gives a strong central performance, and a couple of the musical numbers are infectious.
08/13/09
A little edgier than "High School Musical" and a little smarter than the usual tween fare, "Bandslam" is a refreshing late-summer treat for tweens, teens, and their families.
08/13/09
The performances in Bandslam are uniformly strong -- good enough to make you wish this bunch of charismatic, talented kids had been given better material.
08/13/09
Exceptionally entertaining, but also keenly knowledgeable about music and the history and reverence behind it. Bandslam is more unadulterated fun than it has any right to be.
08/13/09
Within the context of modern family comedies and the vast enabling wasteland of tweener TV, these people feel almost three-dimensional.
08/13/09
Yes, the plot is totally predictable. But the smart script consistently tweaks the formula, allowing director/cowriter Graff to pull off the near-impossible: making a movie that neither sells out nor talks down to teens.
08/13/09
Isn't going to win any awards, but it's a distinct step up from most striving-against-the-odds high school movies.
08/13/09
Like a less oppressively hip Juno, Bandslam captures the way young people too smart and pop-culture-savvy for their own good let the music and movies they love define them during adolescence’s crucible of humiliation and self-doubt.
08/13/09
manages to be energetic, entertaining, and surprisingly mature
08/13/09
Bandslam belongs to Connell. He has the unruly 'fro and endearing shamblingness of a young Daniel Stern, and he ably brings to life that rarest of cinematic qualities: decency.
08/13/09
Part of me wanted to shove "Bandslam" aside for being aside as a teen-exploitation piece of junk about a ragtag bunch of misfits ... but, interestingly enough, it's just as cynical as I am (if not more so).
08/13/09
Bandslam had potential, but it succumbed to peer pressure.
08/13/09
This isn’t a breakthrough movie, but for what it is, it’s charming, and not any more innocuous than it has to be.
08/13/09
Top CriticFinds just the right tone for its teen struggles and rites of passage, with wit that sometimes gives clichés a big ol' wedgie, and sometimes winds up on the receiving end.
08/13/09
It feels like three years to get to a point of resolution. Bandslam should take the lead of the rock gods: keep it moving, keep it simple, and know when to get off the stage.
08/13/09
There's enough of a strong filmmaking backbeat in Bandslam to carry the movie's light tune.
08/12/09
The suprise packet of the film is Vanessa hudgens, cast against type as the Goth-ish girlfriend.
08/12/09
The movie is a far more convincing fantasy of performance-as-self-discovery than the High School Musical franchise.
08/12/09
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August 10, 2009:
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It's one thing to announce a trailer debut and have fans furiously mark their calendars, DVRs and web browsers at the ready. But when a studio can cause a frenzy by announcing a... More...
July 13, 2009:
Check out 8 Bandslam video clips and interviews with Alyson Michalka, Vanessa Hudgens, Gaelan Connell, and Lisa Kudrow 
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