In Bandslam, we get teens who get to talk and act like real teens. They even look like they should be in high school, which is a nice change of pace from recent teen films that featured actors pushing or sometimes past 30 in the lead roles. They're also a little bit smarter than the usual teens we see in these movies, especially when it comes to music. The film has a surprisingly edgy and intelligent tone to its music selection, and the bands the characters talk about. (Kids, be sure to ask your parents who the Velvet Underground were when the movie is over!) Although the film's ad campaign is skewing toward the Disney pop crowd, due to the presence of High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens in one of the female lead roles, the movie itself takes a surprisingly non-conformist tone.

So, why wasn't I more taken with it? It has great music, and the kids are obviously talented with what they do. What it doesn't have is a compelling plot to tie it all together. I liked the kids, but I never found myself truly caring about them. That's because the movie doesn't really try to make us care until the final half, when it suddenly turns out that all the main characters have some kind of secret or past pain that suddenly comes bubbling up in the last half hour or so. All the kids are outcasts, so I guess that's to be expected in a movie like this. Still, until their individual big secrets are revealed, I thought the movie was just spinning its wheels whenever the lead characters weren't singing or making music with their garage band. Speaking of the garage band, we don't learn a whole lot about the individual members who make it up, other than those who have lead roles in the story. It's a pretty big band, but only three of them get any real dialogue or even an actual character. The others pretty much disappear from the story, only to come back for rehearsal or performance scenes.

The movie's central character is Will (Gaelen Connell), a sweet-natured but shy kid who is a frequent target for bullies, is bored at school, and finds comfort in classic rock. He also constantly writes letters to David Bowie, talking about his experiences in music, hoping someday the guy will write him back. (No prizes for guessing if this movie features a Bowie cameo near the end.) Will's mom (Lisa Kudrow) takes a new job, which requires them both to move to New Jersey. At first, Will still finds himself not really fitting in at his new school, but then he meets two fellow kindred spirits. The first is a morose girl who dresses all in black, but secretly has a heart of gold named Sa5m ("the 5 is silent", she explains). She's the Vanessa Hudgens character, and she's surprisingly a stand out, since I haven't exactly been a fan of her acting or singing in the past. The other girl whom Will befriends is Charlotte (Aly Michalka, from the pop group Aly & AJ), a former cheerleader and popular girl, who has since given up her previously shallow ways, and is now the lead singer of a struggling garage band.

Her band's dream is to perform in the upcoming "Bandslam" tournament. It's an annual event where the best high school bands can compete for the grand prize of a recording contract. Charlotte's band needs serious help, so Will takes the band under his wing as manager, and uses his vast knowledge of music to make them into a group that actually stands a chance. He also starts to get close to both girls, though Sa5m warns him not to get too close to Charlotte, as she was the most popular girl in school before she changed her ways and became a semi-outcast. Charlotte is haunted by her "mean girl" past by the presence of her ex-boyfriend (Scott Porter), who doesn't like her hanging around with Will, and decides to dig into Will's past before he came to their school. This decision actually brings about a moment I liked. Usually in these teen movies, the villain has his friends dig up information on the unpopular kid, like they're his henchmen or something. But when he tells his friends to dig up info on Will, they refuse and walk away. They even tell him "we're not your henchmen". I wish the movie had more moments like this, as most of the plot follows direct conventions. Will has a falling out with both Sa5m and Charlotte (He stands up Sa5m on a movie date, and Charlotte's secret past tears them apart at one point), there are reconciliations, and of course, the whole movie climaxes with the big music tournament, where the kids are forced to come up with a new routine and song in less than 5 minutes, because a rival band stole their song. Of course, they pull off this new routine flawlessly. At least the outcome of the tournament is unexpected.

While Bandslam itself is nothing special, there are a lot of little moments that caught my attention. I liked the scene where Will and Charlotte visit the ruins of CBGB, a defunct New York music club that has a lot of history with bands such as The Ramones and Patti Smith. The dialogue here where the characters talk about the bands and their music sounds genuine. Most importantly, however, the music sounds really good. Whenever the kids perform with their band, they genuinely got me excited. There are some great song selections here, both for the band to sing and on the film's soundtrack itself. The acting performances are also strong all around, especially the previously mentioned Hudgens and young Gaelen Connell as Will. He hasn't had many screen roles, but I'd like to see more of him. He has a sort of offbeat charm, which makes him perfect for the underdog role he's been given here. It's also nice to see that Lisa Kudrow has been given a decent role as his mother. In so many teen movies, the parents are written as clueless or comic morons. Kudrow gets to bring a lot of sympathy and even some intelligence to her character.
There's a lot to recommend here, but I still can't give it my full support, because the movie drags on too much. It's nearly two hours long, and there's not enough here to support that length. I liked the performances and the music, but the characters never seemed to grab me the way I thought they should, and sometimes came across as underwritten. I think Bandslam needed another rewrite or two. Director and co-writer, Todd Graff, was almost on to something here.

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