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Parents' Guide to

Standing Ovation

By Renee Longstreet, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

Tween musical competition with mean behavior, name-calling.

Movie PG 2010 106 minutes
Standing Ovation Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

age 10+

Based on 6 parent reviews

age 8+
I’m 18 and rewatched this for good times sake. As I suspected, this film does not hold up well!!! Nostalgia wise, yes. But quality wise? No. The MAIN (emphasis on *main*) premise of the film is two rivalry singing groups (the wiggies and the 5 ovations) that enter a music competition with a cash prize of $1M. Plot wise is where the film is weak. There’s an unnecessary subplot of the 5 Ovations’ manager (Joey) trying to track down a man who stole money from her family. It’s a bit of an odd choice for a kids movie, and adds practically nothing to the story besides a bit of climax. Something else that doesn’t work is the message it sends to the audience. The two rivalry groups both sabotage each other and call each other names. Yes, it’s for the drama. But the way it’s done makes it seem excusable. What doesn’t make sense to me either is that the wiggies, already wealthy, have entered a music competition with a million dollar cash prize. It also doesn’t make sense that they feud with the 12-year-old 5 ovations despite being way older than them. There is also an undeniably obnoxious character named Alanna Wannabe, who makes the movie hard to get through. The acting is not great, though not horrible. There is a LOT of auto tune (I’m not talkin voice enhancing, I mean incredibly noticeable auto tune) but despite that the songs are really catchy. To end on a positive note, the song Blush is unironically catchy, and the closing number from the 5 ovations is memorable. It’s a childhood movie that I still enjoy, however I can’t say that I’d enjoy it if it was my first time watching it as an adult. I’ve also read the kid reviews of this film, and it’s unfortunate that even children have expressed their dissatisfaction with the film. Granted, it is a low budget film. However, I’ve watched other phenomenal low budget indie films, so that’s not really the most applicable excuse…
age 8+

A movie most ages can enjoy!

I first watched this movie when I was a child, and I loved it! I still enjoy it to this day! The songs are catchy and the main character is a very motivated and inspiring young woman. However, the older girls in the rival singing group are very rude and catty to the younger girls. There are a lot of insults thrown around like "geek, freak, nerd, idiot, and stupid". Other than that, I believe this to be a very kid-friendly movie.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (6 ):
Kids say (24 ):

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.

Movie Details

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