Encourages following your dream and working hard. But the movie also portrays mean-spirited retaliation as funny and effective, and rude, obnoxious behavior as cute.

Positive Role Models & Representations

Some preteen girls exhibit leadership and perseverance. Other characters are a mix of stereotypes: mean girls, street toughs, show-offs, etc. The parents (almost all are irresponsible) include: a compulsive gambler, a thief, obnoxious stage mother and father, and a ruthless business tycoon. An effort has been made to show ethnic diversity.

Violence

In numerous scenes, kids intend to scare others, either as pranks or threats. To that end they use frogs, an electric eel, scorpions, fleas, and a menacing cobra. A chained dog with bared teeth startles some young trespassers who use spray perfume to subdue him.

Sex

An obese man is shown from the waist up in a bathtub and then cowering behind a towel. Some skimpy costumes and mildly suggestive dancing.

Language

Lots of insults directed at kids: "fatso," "idiot," "stupid," "fool," "losers," "geeks." One use of "hell." Also some burp and fart humor.

Consumerism

Several shots set in New York City's Times Square include billboards and store names (i.e. Foot Locker, Virgin Records, etc.)

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

A homeless man is seen on a park bench drinking from a brown paper bag.

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Standing Ovation will be highly appealing to tweens, but there's a lot of mean-spirited behavior and name-calling ("idiot," "stupid," "losers," "fatso," etc.) to contend with. In a comic subplot, a precocious young girl, armed with a cobra, an electric eel, and scorpions takes on cartoonish mobsters and thieves. The potentially scary moments involve a guard dog and the cobra. Lots of stereotypes make appearances: an evil tycoon, mean girls, a gay impresario, stage parents, and street-wise kids. Two leading characters deal with and are saddened by the earlier death of a parent (one has lost a mom, the other a dad).

User Reviews

Parents say
Kids say

Parent of a 1, 9, and 11 year old Written byamymomof3girls October 24, 2014

age 18+

TERRIBLE!

This movie is a disgrace to all society. I can't believe I let my girls watch this. They are 11, 9, and 2 (well, my 2 year old was in bed so my older girls... Continue reading

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Parent of a 10 and 11 year old Written bythealefamily25 November 23, 2013

age 2+

best movie ever

My daughter Kim, 11 and son Jay, 10 love this movie. I personally love it becauseit's so snobby and the girls are bad.rolemosela

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Teen, 17 years old Written bySean Broucek July 12, 2013

age 10+

Cute And Heartwarming.

Parents, this funny, family-friendly flick has boatloads of positive messages for tween audiences, but the content is best left for 10 and up. Violence is very... Continue reading

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Kid, 10 years old May 12, 2013

age 18+

Crude and inappropriate

The worst part of this movie was absolutely the crude humor. A hacked music video shows a girl on a roller coaster throwing up. The hurl lands in another guy... Continue reading

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What's the story?

"The Five Ovations," a group of 12-year-old singer-dancers, want to compete in a music contest which will get them to New York City, on national TV, and a grand prize of one million dollars. Their strongest competition is "The Wiggies" a family of older, snarky teens from their own hometown, with talentless, stage-struck parents who will stop at nothing to win. The Ovations make a game try, reaching out to an odd assortment of almost-talented outsiders to help them. A sub-plot involves revenge for a father's death, as well as searching for stolen money and a dad who has abandoned his family.

Is it any good?

It's painful to watch so many kids trying in earnest to make this movie work. They have too much to contend with: a hackneyed story, terrible unoriginal music and choreography, ridiculous dialogue that is only funny because it's so poorly delivered, and, most of all, a clueless director who tackles music videos, staged dances, and performances that are well beyond his ability and the talents of everyone involved.

The final screeching, cringe-worthy element is a little girl who wants to be a star -- her name "Alanna Wannabe," of course. Given all that, there are 10-year-old girls who truly love this movie and who can overlook all that's bad for the eye candy of the costumes and the fantasy of becoming a star.

Talk to your kids about ...

Families can talk about the parents in this movie. What could they do better? What are some qualities that you think are important in parenting?
The movie says: "Bad people make everyone around them feel bad." Does that ring true to you?
Making a music video would be fun. Could you work with friends to make one? How would you do it?