Funny, touching, and well-acted, Bandslam is a pleasent indie-like suprise that even older viewers will enjoy
I'm not sure why, but indie movies seem to be slowly rising up in the media nowadays. Indie music, too. Bandslam, the newest dish from Summit Entertainment and Walden Media, proves that undoubtedly. It focuses on a high school misfit named Will (played very well by newcomer Gaelan Connell), a fan of everything independent, who is clearly at a low-point in his life. He has to deal with making new friends at a new school, a dog-obsessed mother, and teasing from his peers. Everything changes when he meets Sa5m (the 5 is silent) and Charlotte. The trio quickly get along despite threre differences. After Will settles in, he decides to manage Charlotte's failing band for a huge school concert called Bandslam. The story is fresh and new, and the acting is first-rate. It is pleasantly suprising to have a kids movie that doesn't resort to low-brow potty humor and fart jokes. Bandslam generates laughs from goofy characters and a funny script. The movie also expertly mixes drama in, making for a movie that older viewers wil enjoy as well. It's an insightful, thoughtful, moving, and intellegent flick that deserves more recognition than comparable titles such as Napoleon Dynamite. If there is anything to hold it back from 5 stars, it's that there are some uneeded sub-plots, and an overuse of David Bowie's music. Content issues are only noticable in the sexual humor section, but it's all pretty mild. Anyone over 10 should be OK.