The Naked Brothers Band: Battle of the Bands - NR

Tween rockers' lifestyle warrants a reality check.

Rating: NR Studio: Paramount Home Video Directed By: Polly Draper Cast: Nat Wolff, Michael Wolff, Allie DiMeco Running Time: 70 minutes Release Date: 09/04/2007 Genre: Family and Kids

Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that you owe it to your kids to do a major reality check on this made-for-TV movie about the adventures of Nickelodeon's hugely popular The Naked Brothers Band. The young stars have no responsibilities whatsoever, live in the lap of luxury (big-screen TVs, indoor clubhouses stocked with games, etc.), and enjoy hordes of fans cheering them on wherever they go. Also, because the plot revolves around the "love life" of 11-year-old leader Nat -- he's devastated when his long-time crush falls for a flashy rock star -- there are more sexual references than you might expect for something aimed at tweens. A girl is called "hot" and "a good kisser," a tween pats a girl's bottom as she walks by (she responds by giggling and asking if she's being "punk'd"), and one scene shows a teen couple cuddled together and kissing passionately. Potty language is frequent (the main offender is the group's youngest member, 8-year-old Alex), partly thanks to a total lack of adult supervision.

Families can talk about how the Naked Brothers' sense of reality compares with their own. Kids: Can you relate to the issues the characters have with each other, with the opposite sex, and with rivals? Do Nat and Alex interact like you and your siblings do? What do you think of the kids' lifestyle? How does it compare to yours? Would you like to be famous? What do you think would be the benefits of fame? What about the downside?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Emily Ashby

The Naked Brothers Band's latest made-for-TV movie may get cheers from their many young fans -- but for parents, the response to yet another glorified slice-of-life installment may be altogether different.

With THE NAKED BROTHERS BAND: BATTLE OF THE BANDS, Nickelodeon aims to build on the popularity of the real-life tween band that fans first met in The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie (which led to a successful TV series). Now the six musicians -- real-life brothers Nat and Alex Wolff, longtime friends Thomas Batuello and David Levi, and band add-ons Qaasim Middleton and Rosalina (Allie DeMeco) -- are back in an exaggerated tale of love, loss, and ultimate triumph of good over, well, not so good.

The story picks up as the band signs on to participate in a charity event benefiting a foundation that raises money to increase kids' access to musical exposure and training. The event brings the squeaky-clean group up against edgier West Coast band The L.A. Surfers, whose heartthrob lead singer, Bobby Love (Keli Price), soon catches Rosalina's eye. That sends 11-year-old Nat into an emotional tailspin, since Rosalina is still his own intense unrequited love interest.

Soon the crush develops into an all-out romance, and Nat decides to change his good-guy image to compete with Bobby's flashier one. When that doesn't work, he resorts to dropping obvious hints about his rival's completely phony façade -- but starry-eyed Rosalina refuses to listen to Nat's claims that her boyfriend hires a songwriter for work he passes off as his own and that he isn't even the Brit bombshell he claims to be. Finally, fed up with Nat's rude behavior, she quits the band.

Suddenly the battle of the bands takes on new meaning; Nat now sees it as an opportunity to win back Rosalina's heart -- and reveal Bobby for the fake that he is. But whether the girl of his dreams is ready to hear the truth remains to be seen.

Battle of the Bands takes the content viewers are used to from the band's previous TV efforts and gooses it even further. The movie glorifies the tweens' unrealistic lifestyle, in which school is never mentioned, parents are mostly absent (the kids are left to fend for themselves in their decked-out mini-bachelor pad), responsibilities of any sort (family commitments, chores, etc.) are non-existent, and they're revered by fans wherever they go.

If that isn't enough to turn parents off, there's some pretty iffy sexual content (for tweens, anyway), too. The entire plot revolves around an 11-year-old's obsession with his crush -- to the point that when she takes an interest in someone else, he's rendered practically useless and resorts to staring out the window instead of interacting with friends. There are also a few kissing scenes -- including one in which a teen couple is cuddled on a couch and kisses passionately -- and Bobby refers to Rosalina as "hot" and "a good kisser." Even clean-cut Nat gives Rosalina's bottom a quick pat at one point, something that's totally out of character for the soft-spoken band leader.

On the (slim) plus side is the musicians' unarguable talent, particularly Nat, who penned most of the songs on the band's self-titled CD.

If your tweens are hardcore fans, be sure to do a reality check with them after this movie to remind them that the lifestyle they see isn't the norm. And if they haven't been bitten by the Naked Brothers bug yet, you might want to give this one a pass. Better musically oriented choices for tweens include High School Musical and Hannah Montana.

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Content		CS	adults	kids
Content
Sexual Content A tween spends most of the movie mooning over his long-time crush, who's starry-eyed over a flashy but totally superficial teen music star. References include mention of a girl being "hot" and "a good kisser," a pat on a girl's bottom from an 11-year-old boy, and one scene showing a teen couple kissing passionately with their bodies pressed together suggestively.
Violence A couple of brief scuffles that don't result in injury.
Language No cursing, but lots of potty talk: "butthead," "kick their butts," and an apparent substitution for a red-letter word ("What in the poo-poo sauce?"). Yuck.
Message
	Social Behavior Adult supervision is virtually non-existent; the only adult figure is onscreen for mere minutes of the movie, and he's cast as a goofball (his tween sons often poke fun at him). The movie's plot centers on an 11-year-old's full-blown obsession with his long-time crush, who's smitten with a teen rock star who's not exactly a perfect role model. The tween stars have no responsibilities (school, chores, etc.), but spend their days goofing off in their elaborate club room stocked with a TV, games, and food. Charitable work is placed in a negative light, as the penalty for losing a band competition is a forced monetary donation to a kids' foundation.
	Commercialism The guys enjoy lots of material luxuries, from big-screen TVs to games. The Naked Brothers are also part of an ever-expanding commercial empire, from a TV show to a CD and more.
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco