3.5 stars (out of five). Rating: PG, for very mild sexual content
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 8.13.09
Buy DVD: Bandslam
• Buy Blu-Ray: Bandslam [Blu-ray]
Only in the movies can a shy, tongue-tied high school nerd wind up locking lips with both the gorgeous lead from the High School Musical
franchise and the hotter, sexier half of the real-world pop duo Aly & AJ. But hey: That's why we love cinema, right? It's the ultimate in wish-fulfillment.
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| Sa5m (Vanessa Hudgens, left) watches warily as Will (Gaelan Connell) becomes ever-more attracted to Charlotte (Aly Michalka), who "can't be trusted." The emotional angst notwithstanding, few high school boys could complain about being in such close proximity to these two hotties. |
Director Todd Graff's Bandslam is a lively, frequently charming underdog saga: the sort of musical fairy tale Hollywood has done superbly since the genre was born in the 1930s.
Although not quite as squeaky-clean as Disney's High School Musical series, I expect this film will play quite successfully to the same audience. The only nod toward being "edgy" is that the music involved here is more rock 'n' reggae, with an occasional glimpse of punk.
It seems to have become something of a cliché for today's geeky high school underdogs to be alt-music savants, and Will Burton (Gaelan Connell) is no exception. As a recent transplant to a New Jersey high school that is obsessed with an annual band competition — Austin, Texas, locations actually stand in for Jersey throughout this film — Will hopes to remain a quiet part of the wallpaper, content to air his starry-eyed hopes and dreams in long, rambling e-mail letters sent to (of all people) David Bowie.
Needless to say, Bowie never answers.
But anonymity isn't in the cards for Will, who winds up the object of attention on two fronts. During his first lunch period, he meets another misfit: a quiet, neglected bookworm (Vanessa Hudgens) who has dubbed herself Sa5m. ("The 5 is silent.") At the same time, some chance remarks about the early alternative music scene prompt "reformed" cheerleader Charlotte Banks (Aly Michalka) to invite Will to critique the efforts of her garage band.
I could make a snide comment about the utter ridiculousness of a gal as adorable as Hudgens being cast as a neglected wallflower, but hey: You gotta go with the flow.
