Parents' Guide to

Cow Belles

By Larisa Wiseman, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 7+

Family comedy is slightly ludicrous but has heart.

Movie G 2006 93 minutes
Cow Belles Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 9+

Based on 2 parent reviews

Margert-jerry
Margert-jerry Adult
August 15, 2014
age 8+
This movie was a stereotypical Disney movie with annoying characters and shoddy script/plot. the two bratty main characters are very bothersome it's dumb obnoxiously unrealistic with bad role models my cow-obsessed cousin was disappointed with the lack of cows but he's the only idiot over age 2 that was expecting cows
Rob79
Rob79 Parent
March 22, 2009
age 9+

Silly by harmless

The plot is definitely implausible, but it shows two appealing girls learning that having money isn't everything and you can't just say "sorry" and have problems go away. The way they learn the lessons is a bit overly obvious and dramatic, but for younger audiences not a problem.
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What's the Story?

In the Disney Channel's family comedy COW BELLES, teen sisters Taylor and Courtney Callum (played by real-life sisters Alyson and Amanda Michalka, of the pop duo Aly & AJ) are spoiled rich girls without a care in the world. But everything changes after they accidentally cause a fire in their kitchen. Their father Reed (Jack Coleman) decides to teach them a lesson in responsibility by making them work at his dairy plant for the summer. At the dairy, the sisters discover that their uncle has made off with a huge amount of money. The factory workers are in an uproar because their paychecks have bounced. With Reed on vacation and out of contact it's up to the girls to scrape together enough money to pay the workers. Taylor decides that the only solution is to take money out of Courtney's $25,000 cotillion allowance, which causes a rift between the sisters. In her anger, Courtney makes a mistake that threatens to put the company completely out of business, and the girls must rally the community to come to their aid.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2):
Kids say (3):

Adults will probably roll their eyes and groan during the first 20 minutes of this movie, and rightly so -- the sisters' flighty, shallow behavior is made overly cute. Worse, their father is a big pushover who punishes them with the slightest hint of a goofy grin on his face -- as if he knows he's supposed to teach them a lesson but can't really get mad at them, even for something serious. The script is overly corny at times, the supporting cast is a bit wooden, and many characters are two-dimensional stereotypes.

But the film is worth watching for the sisters' progression toward becoming responsible adults. You start to care about their plight because they actually start to care about someone besides themselves. That, and the Michalka sisters' charm, knack for comedy, and decent acting ability, makes this a heartwarming tale in the end -- even if their girls' turnaround isn't the most believable. Kids and tweens, especially girls, will enjoy Cow Belles and certainly won't miss the strong message: Be responsible with money, think about others and not just yourself, and learn to admit your mistakes and make up for them.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the changes the sisters undergo. What's positive or negative about their attitudes and the way they live their life when the movie starts? What happens to make them rethink their ways? Do you think it's realistic for people to change so drastically in such a short time? Another discussion topic could be the adults with whom the girls interact. What do you think of the way their father treats them? How does this shape their personalities? How do some of the farm and factory workers become a positive influence on the girls?

Movie Details

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