Bandslam (2009)
I probably wouldn’t have watched this, despite generally liking music/dance teen movies for some reason, if I hadn’t noticed that it got really positive reviews for the kind of movie it looked like. But having done so, I’m glad I did.
It’s nothing that hasn’t been done before. A high school outcast finds his place as a manager for a band, helping them prepare for “Bandslam” (a battle of the bands in which the winners get a record deal). But it’s competent, the jokes are less juvenile than you’d expect, and the characters are likable.
I was worried going in about the presence of Vanessa Hudgens, having only ever seen her saccharine-dripping performances in the High School Musical movies. But here she is more subdued. Hell, I even liked Lisa Kudrow.
Oh, and there’s definitely a David Bowie cameo — one of several things in Bandslam that the average movie that falls into this category would never do.
Rating: B+
