Greetings,
I recently did a post about my favorite episodes of Drake and Josh, where I stated that, though I am no longer in the teen demographic, I have no shame in liking something meant for the young as long as it's good. The movie I will be talking about today reminds me of that. It's very young, but very good. And it is called Bandslam.
This film came out in 2009 and, surprising to some people, it got a lot of great reviews. Unfortunately, it didn't do so well at the box office, but that has never had an effect on me. I gave this one a chance because, as you all know, I love music and things related to it. So what is it about this movie that caught my attention and still manages to keep it? Let's find out. I will try to take you through the movie's events while commenting on the cast as well. I hope it works out.
Bandslam is about a high school kid named Will Burton played by Gaellan Connell. Yeah, I never heard of this kid before this movie, but he does do a good job. I guess if you want to make a comparison, this role that he fits into so well is something you would have expected to come from Jesse Eisenberg or Michael Cera in years earlier. He's that kind of an actor, which I find endearing. Anyway, Will is definitely not a popular kid at school, but he is very knowledgeable about music. He is such a fan of David Bowie, in fact, that he regularly writes him emails, which serve as sort of a diary. One day, Will is told by his mom that they are moving to a new town, which means a new school. Yay. His mom, Karen, is played by Lisa Kudrow, and let me take this opportunity to say something. I know that Jennifer Anniston is considered the biggest star to come out of Friends, but in my opinion, Lisa Kudrow was the most talented one of that whole group, bar none. Just saying.
Anyway, on his first day, Will is told about something called Bandslam, after a performance by Ben Wheatley and the Glory Dogs, the school's most celebrated band. It's a contest where the winner gets a recording contract. Enter Vanessa Hudgens who plays Sa5m, pronounced Sam. The 5 is silent. Yeah, that bit is mentioned a few more times, but not so much that it gets annoying. It even actually has a good payoff in the end. The only thing that annoys me about this is that I did not think of it myself at age 16. Anyway, Sa5m is an outsider with a dead pan voice and a dry sense of humor. In short, she is the total opposite of the character Miss Hudgens played in High School Musical. I guess. I mean, I haven't seen that one, but I've heard the stories. Now one might think it was contrived to have her play an opposite of that, and maybe that was the plan, but her performance doesn't feel forced at all, and she pulls it off quite well
Besides Sa5m, Will also meets Charlotte, played by Aly Michalka. I must stop again and say something else. Over the past few years, I have become a big fan of this girl. I think she is extremely talented at both acting and singing. She's only in her early twenties, and I think she has the potential to be even greater one day than she already is. Hey, she even got to be on CSI:NY, and you know they don't let just anyone around the Gary Sinise. Moving on. At first glance, Charlotte looks like your typical blond-haired, cheerleader, popular girl, and that is exactly what she used to be. She was also once a member of the Glory Dogs, not to mention the girlfriend of its current and quite arrogant leader, Ben. Those days are over, and she wants to start a band of her own. After meeting Will and seeing how much he knows about music, she invites him to help her with that task. Will also tells her that his dad is a sideman for a lot of famous bands, which makes his help even more appealing. So he officially becomes their manager.
Will sits in on a performance by Charlotte and two other former members of the Glory Dogs named Bug and Omar, who hilariously insist on keeping that name. He tells them they need a fuller sound, which he gets by recruiting new members. These members include a very quiet classical pianist named Kim, a spazzy cellist named Irene, an unnamed (I think) 3-man brass section, and a guy named Basher who is a fantastic and, let's say, eccentric drummer. Will also tells them that they do, in fact, need a new name (sorry, guys), so he dubs them I Can't Go On, I'll Go On. Perfect.
In the meantime, we get deeper with the personal lives of the characters. Will and Sa5m begin to get closer, especially after they get paired up for a school project, though she still does keep up a wall. No surprise since Will keeps letting her down in favor of Charlotte. We also find out exactly why Charlotte decided to turn her life around and become a different person from the shallow one she once was. And some secrets from Will's past are discovered as well.
After a lot of emotional ups and downs for the characters, they finally all make it to Bandslam, where we get even more upheaval. Never a dull moment. So does I Can't Go On, I'll Go On go on to win the contest? Well, I am certainly not going to tell you. How silly! But I will say, I do love how they put the ending together. Still, since we are talking about the concert, let's also talk about the music in this movie.
The soundtrack is a nice mix of songs we know by artists we know and songs performed by our featured movie band. We get some stuff by Nick Drake, Wilco, The Velvet Underground and Nico, and of course, David Bowie. We get two great cover songs by I Can't Go On, I'll Go On, "I Want You To Want Me" and a ska-ish version of "Everything I Own". But hands down, my favorite song is one performed by the band with Aly Michalka singing lead, called "Someone to Fall Back On". In the film, it is meant to be a song that Charlotte wrote for her father, and it is really beautiful.
Though this film was obviously not targeting my age bracket, it managed to entertain me just the same. It is presented intelligently enough so that we grown ups can like it as well. Sure, it may use a couple of teen movie cliches, but nowhere near as many as you would expect. It has a great cast who portray well developed characters within a story that can be funny without being silly and sentimental without being sappy. So I am heartily recommending this to one and all.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
