The fantastically edited scenes of battling bands in action are guaranteed to set your heart racing.
Drumline (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:81
Fresh:65
Rotten:16
Average Rating:6.7/10
Consensus: Essentially a sports movie with drums, the energetic Drumline somehow manages to make the familiar seem fresh.
Runtime: 2 hrs 7 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Charles Stone III's crowd-pleasing drama spotlights the previously unheralded world of university marching bands--more specifically, the cutthroat world that energizes Southern black campuses.... Charles Stone III's crowd-pleasing drama spotlights the previously unheralded world of university marching bands--more specifically, the cutthroat world that energizes Southern black campuses. Devon Miles (Nick Cannon) is a Harlem teenager who receives a full scholarship to attend Atlanta A&T University based on his excellent percussion talents. However, making the transition from hip-hop street drumming to the drumline of the school's legendary marching band is more challenging than Miles expected. For one, the band director, Dr. Lee (Orlando Jones), is determined to reclaim the national championship using old-school tactics, even though his traditional beliefs appear to be leaving A&T in the dust. And then there is Sean (Leonard Roberts), the current drum leader, who is threatened by Devon's skills and frustrated by his fierce individuality. These antagonistic forces, as well as the addition of a cheerleading love interest (Zoe Saldana), combine to test Devon's previously unshakeable confidence. As the season builds toward the BET Big Southern Classic and a showdown with rival Morris Brown University, Devon must swallow his pride and learn to be a team player if he wants his band to win the championship. DRUMLINE proves that any subject can make for an invigorating work of entertainment, if handled properly. [More]
Starring: Nick Cannon, Zoe Saldana, Orlando Jones, Leonard Roberts
Starring: Nick Cannon, Zoe Saldana, Orlando Jones, Leonard Roberts, GQ, Jason Weaver, Earl C. Poitier, J. Anthony Brown
Director: Charles Stone
Director: Charles Stone
Screenwriter: Tina Gordon Chism, Shawn Schepps
Producer: Wendy Finerman, Tim Bourne, Jody Gerson
Composer: John Powell
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Reviews for Drumline
Drumline ably captures the complicated relationships in a marching band.
While you might not be able to dance to it, Drumline has a good enough beat to propel it and make being in a marching band look cool.
With its young cast and an appealing balance of uplifting attitude and irreverent humor, Drumline has the potential to be a sleeper hit.
Although it bangs a very cliched drum at times, this crowd-pleaser's fresh dialogue, energetic music, and good-natured spunk are often infectious.
A sugar-coated Rocky whose valuable messages are forgotten 10 minutes after the last trombone honks.
Cannon's confidence and laid-back good spirits are, with the drumming routines, among the film's saving graces.
As you watch the drummers pound out their polyrhythms and twirl their sticks, you may find it hard to stay in your seat.
Drumline is the real deal, a toe-tapping, feel-good sleeper with an unlikely setting -- a college marching band -- that feels fresh and rousing despite a formulaic script.
Director Charles Stone III applies more detail to the film's music than to the story line; what's best about Drumline is its energy.
This entertaining and enthusiastically told tale shrewdly energizes its way-familiar plot line by setting it amid one of the greatest and least-known spectacles in American sports.
Director Charles Stone III fails to find a coherent grammar with which to shoot the band performances, leaving them flat and at a remove from the exuberant, pull-out-the-stops crowd pleasers they are presumably intended to be.
Drumline comes close to collapsing under the weight of drawn-out scenes and an earnest story that piles on minor themes and subplots, but the energy and visual kick of the band numbers saves the day.
Sure, you can say this marches to a similar beat as Bring It On, but even if it is formulaic, Drumline is fun.
Drumline is a brassy formula film of a very high order, a movie that's both entertaining and inspirational.
It's pretty warm, fuzzy and entertaining, even if it isn't very good.
By the time its otherwise paint-by-numbers story reaches a finale, Drumline has made band seem cool -- no small feat in the wake of American Pie 2.
Drumline is a movie that treats its characters and audience with respect; it can't be accused of being a dumbed-down teen comedy.
[Drumline] is entertaining for what it does, and admirable for what it doesn't do.
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