The Naked Brothers Band: Battle of the Bands (NR, 2007)

In THE NAKED BROTHERS BAND: BATTLE OF THE BANDS, the popular real-life tween band is 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 -- comprised of real-life brothers Nat and four other members including Rosalina (Allie DeMeco)-- signs on to participate in a worthy charity event. The event brings the squeaky-clean group up against an edgier West Coast band whose heartthrob lead singer, Bobby Love (Keli Price), soon catches Rosalina's eye. Nat becomes jealous, and when the crush develops into an all-out romance, he decides to change his good-guy image to compete with Bobby's flashier one. When that doesn't work, he drops 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.

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.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, 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.

Studio: Paramount Pictures
Director: Polly Draper
Cast: Allie DiMeco, Michael Wolff, Nat Wolff
Genre: Family and Kids
Run time: 70 minutes
Theatrical release: September 4, 2007
DVD release: September 4, 2007
MPAA Rating: NR