The outcome isn't exactly in doubt, but the ride is pleasant enough along the way. Connell in particular gives a strong central performance, and a couple of the musical numbers are infectious.
Comment
08/13/09
Bandslam (2009)
80
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:87
Fresh:70
Rotten:17
Average Rating:6.4/10
Consensus: Bandslam is an intelligent teen film that avoids teen film cliches, in an entertaining package of music and coming-of-age drama.
Theatrical Release:Aug 14, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $5,205,343
Synopsis: Disney Channel superstars Vanessa Anne Hudgens (High School Musical 1 & 2, High School Musical 3) and Alyson Michalka (Phil of the Future, pop duo Aly and AJ) join Gaelan Connell (Chocolat), Scott... [More]
Starring: Gaelan Connell, Vanessa Hudgens, Alyson Michalka, Lisa Kudrow
Director: Todd Graff
Reviews for Bandslam
A little edgier than "High School Musical" and a little smarter than the usual tween fare, "Bandslam" is a refreshing late-summer treat for tweens, teens, and their families.
08/13/09
The performances in Bandslam are uniformly strong -- good enough to make you wish this bunch of charismatic, talented kids had been given better material.
08/13/09
Exceptionally entertaining, but also keenly knowledgeable about music and the history and reverence behind it. Bandslam is more unadulterated fun than it has any right to be.
08/13/09
Within the context of modern family comedies and the vast enabling wasteland of tweener TV, these people feel almost three-dimensional.
08/13/09
Yes, the plot is totally predictable. But the smart script consistently tweaks the formula, allowing director/cowriter Graff to pull off the near-impossible: making a movie that neither sells out nor talks down to teens.
08/13/09
Isn't going to win any awards, but it's a distinct step up from most striving-against-the-odds high school movies.
08/13/09
Like a less oppressively hip Juno, Bandslam captures the way young people too smart and pop-culture-savvy for their own good let the music and movies they love define them during adolescence’s crucible of humiliation and self-doubt.
08/13/09
manages to be energetic, entertaining, and surprisingly mature
08/13/09
Surprisingly watchable despite the formulaic teen format.
08/13/09
Bandslam belongs to Connell. He has the unruly 'fro and endearing shamblingness of a young Daniel Stern, and he ably brings to life that rarest of cinematic qualities: decency.
08/13/09
Part of me wanted to shove "Bandslam" aside for being aside as a teen-exploitation piece of junk about a ragtag bunch of misfits ... but, interestingly enough, it's just as cynical as I am (if not more so).
08/13/09
Bandslam had potential, but it succumbed to peer pressure.
08/13/09
This isn’t a breakthrough movie, but for what it is, it’s charming, and not any more innocuous than it has to be.
08/13/09
Top CriticFinds just the right tone for its teen struggles and rites of passage, with wit that sometimes gives clichés a big ol' wedgie, and sometimes winds up on the receiving end.
08/13/09
It feels like three years to get to a point of resolution. Bandslam should take the lead of the rock gods: keep it moving, keep it simple, and know when to get off the stage.
08/13/09
There's enough of a strong filmmaking backbeat in Bandslam to carry the movie's light tune.
08/12/09
Top CriticThe suprise packet of the film is Vanessa hudgens, cast against type as the Goth-ish girlfriend.
08/12/09
Graff ... stirs in some terrific moments along the way that subvert the genre just a little bit.
08/12/09
The movie is a far more convincing fantasy of performance-as-self-discovery than the High School Musical franchise.
08/12/09
Latest News for Bandslam
August 13, 2009:
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This week at the movies, we've got an alien nation (District 9, starring Jason Cope and Sharlto Copley); a high school musical (Bandslam, starring Gaelan Connell and Vanessa... More...
August 13, 2009:
Box Office Guru Preview: District 9 Invades Over Crowded Frame
With summer almost out of gas, studios toss five more contenders into the ring in hopes of catching moviegoers that just haven't had their share of multiplex entertainment yet.... More...
August 10, 2009:
Updated: The New Moon Teaser Trailer Teaser; Is 14 Seconds Enough for Fans?
It's one thing to announce a trailer debut and have fans furiously mark their calendars, DVRs and web browsers at the ready. But when a studio can cause a frenzy by announcing a... More...
July 13, 2009:
Check out 8 Bandslam video clips and interviews with Alyson Michalka, Vanessa Hudgens, Gaelan Connell, and Lisa Kudrow 
More...
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