"STANDING OVATION" (2010) (Kayla Jackson, Joei DeCarlo) (PG) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Minor Moderate Extreme Moderate None Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Extreme Mild Minor None Minor Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Mild Minor Moderate Heavy Mild QUICK TAKE: Musical: Two rival girl groups go on TV to compete for a $1 million prize and recording contract. PLOT: The Five Ovations are a group of junior-high school girls who dream of making it big in the music industry. Brittany (KAYLA JACKSON), Maya (NAJEE WILSON), Blaze (PILAR MARTIN), Cameron (KAYLA RAPARELLI), and Tatiana (ALEXIS BIESIADA) do not come from wealthy families. So, they have to perform at assisted-living facilities and even on the Atlantic City boardwalk to get money to fund their dreams. By contrast, their chief rivals are the Wiggies, a group of five interchangeable, mean girls who are funded by the wealthy Mr. Wiggs (SAL DUPREE). They are very talented, but their quest to succeed at all costs causes them to play multiple dirty tricks on the Five Ovations such as sabotaging their van and putting pepper in their microphones. One of the girls has even made eyes at Brittany's songwriting brother, Mark (AUSTIN POWELL), who now pens tunes for the Wiggies and not his sibling's group. At the same time, a shrill pre-teen named Alanna (ALANNA PALOMBO) demands to be taken seriously by the older girls as a performer. She's always trying to impose her will and join them on stage. Eventually, she tries to make it on her own with the help of her supportive father. All of the girls dream of competing for a $1 million prize and a recording contract on a nationally televised talent competition. Meanwhile, the Five Ovations tough, Italian pre-teen manager Joei (JOEI DECARLO) sets off on a quest to find Kenny Rich (MARIO MACALUSO), the man who stole $90,000 from her father years earlier and caused him to eventually die a penniless failure. She suspiciously enlists Brittany, in particular, to help her as she has deep-seeded regrets about her own father abandoning her when she was very young. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? God help 'em, but yes kids who enjoy "Glee," "American Idol," and the "High School Musical" films will likely be sold a bill of goods on this one. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG For some rude behavior. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: KAYLA JACKSON plays the leader of a good-girl singing group. She is sad from the death of her mom and subsequently being abandoned by her father as a small child. She does not like her grandfather's gambling habit, but gambles herself when given inside information on a horse race. JOEI DECARLO is the street-tough manager of the Five Ovations who is on a quest to exact revenge on the man who stole money from her dead father years earlier. She is on a quest to exact revenge on the man who stole money from her dead father, and she is not above using everything from snakes to scorpions to electric eels to get information on the crook. STU DUPREE plays the cheating manager (and father of) the Wiggles, an all-girl group of singers and dancers who believe in winning at all costs. He is regularly shown cheating to further his girls' chances of advancing in performance competitions. He also wears obscenely fake wigs at all times. MARIO MACALUSO plays the billionaire owner of a broadcast network with ties to both Joei and Brittany. He is portrayed as greedy and ruthless, but eventually has a Scrooge-like change of heart when presented with his long-lost child. ALANNA PALOMBO plays a shrill, pre-teen performer who tries to browbeat everyone around her into accepting her as an equal. She dreams only of fame and fortune. AUSTIN POWELL plays Brittany's generally good-hearted teenage brother, who dreams of being a songwriter. He betrays his sister by writing songs for the Wiggies because he thinks they give him a better chance of making it in the music industry. PILAR MARTIN, NAJEE MARTIN, ALEXIS BIESIADA, and KAYLA RAPARELLI play the rest of the good-girl Five Ovations. ERIKA CORVETTE, LONDON CLARK, JEANA ZETTLER, and DEVON JORDAN play the mean rival Wiggies. None of them stand out as individual personalities. They are all equally catty and conniving. P. BRENDA MULVEY plays Brittany and Mark's supportive Irish grandfather, who is a social drinker and has a gambling habit. He actually bets the family's rent money on horse races. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this musical that has been rated PG. Profanity consists of at least 2 hells, while there are plenty of colorful phrases and Disney Channel-lite putdowns uttered throughout. The film centers on the rivalry between two all-girl singing groups, who trade barbs of the "You're such a loser" variety throughout. Some slightly suggestive material is present, as is some crude humor. Violence is minimal, but one of the groups is managed by a street-tough pre-teen who threatens various people throughout the film with a cobra, an electric eel, fleas, and scorpions. The cobra scene, in particular, could prove frightening to some viewers with a natural fear of snakes. Bad attitudes are highly present, as is much potentially imitative behavior, gambling, tense family material, and various thematic elements. There is one minor scene of drinking involving the grandfather of two of the characters. Likely the main concern for many parents will be the pre-teen and teen characters' overriding obsession with gaining fame and fortune and winning at all costs. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings below for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, all sorts of camera movement occurs throughout the film considering that there are nearly two dozen song-and-dance sequences (some with brief strobe-light effects). ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Gramps is shown drinking what appears to be a glass of whiskey at a gambling parlor. Several background extras look to have similar drinks. BLOOD/GORE One of the singers lets out a long burp just before show time. While filming a commercial, three of the Five Ovations twice spit out the foul-tasting soda they are supposed to be advertising. A commercial director lets out a loud burp after drinking the nasty soda. To get her to look and act tough, Joei gives Brittany some licorice, tells her to pretend it's chewing tobacco, and to spit every once in a while for effect (which the girl does at least three times). The Wiggies gain access to the Five Ovations' music video and use computer effects to make it look like they are farting and vomiting throughout their performance, which is set at an amusement park. At one point, one of the girls throws up on a roller coaster and a boy's face is sprayed with vomit in the video. The video plays on national TV, and Cameron has to run to the bathroom and throw up in one of the stalls. We briefly hear her heaves and she emerges from one of the stalls with a tiny bit of throw-up around her mouth. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE When the older girls don't let her perform with them, Alanna wishes that their hair falls out and that they all get warts. Mr. Wiggs sabotages the stage lights while a competing group is on stage performing. As the Wiggies walk by the Five Ovations, they sing things like "Losers" and "Geeks" in five-part harmony. They repeat this gag later in the film, and the Five Ovations do the same to the Wiggies eventually. The Wiggies put chewing gum on the backs of the dressing room's chairs so it will get on the Five Ovations costumes and cause them to stick to the seats. Just before the Five Ovations take the stage, one of the Wiggies pays a stage hand to sprinkle pepper on the their headset microphones, causing them to sneeze throughout their performance and lose the opening competition. The audience laughs heartily at the girls' failure on stage. The film serves up a number of stereotypes: Brittany and Mark's Irish grandfather is a slightly boozy gambler, Joei is a tough-talking Italian girl who threatens other Italian mobster types on several occasions, and a stage manager speaks with an exaggerated lisp and displays exaggerated emotions. Gramps tells Brittany she'll get fat if she eats too much chocolate pie. In the lunchroom, numerous classmates of the Five Ovations mock-sneeze as the girls walk by, essentially making fun of them for their failure on stage the day before. Brittany sings for money on the Atlantic City boardwalk, and a man stops to give her a $1 bill and takes a $10 bill that was in her case. Brittany and Joei both call him on it, lying that they have a cellphone video recording of his theft and the $10 bill's serial numbers written down, and he reluctantly gives back the money. Cameron fakes that she likes a boy at school whose father owns a recording studio so the Five Ovations can gain access to the facility after hours without the dad's knowledge and use the expensive recording equipment. Joei tells Brittany of a man who stole $90,000 from her father, who never recovered from it and eventually died. Joei tells Brittany that a local horse race is fixed and that she should put money on it. Brittany and Mark's grandfather bets the rent money on horse races. An elderly woman is heard snoring just as the Five Ovations are about to begin their performance at an assisted-living facility. While filming her music video in a firehouse, Alanna comically hits one fireman in the belly with a cane as part of her demanding direction. She then goes down the line and hits each of the fire fighters in the stomachs with the cane, telling them to keep their bellies in when dancing. Joei bribes a restaurant waiter to put frogs in each of the Wiggies' soups, causing them to go into hysterics. Joei pulls a cobra out of her backpack and threatens a man with it if he does not give her the information she wants. The man is cornered, with the snake hissing and spitting at him several times until he relents and tells her what she wants to know. When confronted by a local tough, Joei tricks him into reaching into her backpack which contains an electric eel. The guy is shocked repeatedly and eventually runs away. It is also revealed that her bag contains scorpions. An overweight Mr. Wiggs is called "Fatso." Brittany and her friends steal one of Mark's songs, change the lyrics, and claim it as their own. The Wiggies gain access to the Five Ovations' music video and use computer effects to make it look like they are farting and vomiting throughout their performance, which is set at an amusement park. The Five Ovations eventually get even with Mr. Wiggs and the Wiggies by placing live fleas in their wigs right before they go on stage. When performing, they start to itch uncontrollably and eventually throw off the wigs into the audience causing a brief panic. The Wiggies sabotage the Five Ovations' van to make them late for a big, televised performance in New York City. Mr. Wiggs and his wife scoff and do not applaud any of the other performers who are going up against the Wiggies in the climactic competition. After announcing the grand prize winner, one of the girls who lost is show throwing a temper tantrum on stage, falling to the floor and kicking and screaming. Several of the other girls who lost are also shown crying and acting incredulous. Only one is shown shaking the winning team's hands. Kenny Rich concedes that he stole money from Joei's father, but notes that Joei's father had already stolen that money from the government. Joei jokes with Brittany that they can get revenge on Kenny by throwing her electric eels into his bathtub as he is taking a bath. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence," "Blood/Gore" and "Jump Scenes" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. Joei and Brittany walk through a creepy, dimly lit boiler room. When they emerge outside, a snarling dog jumps out suddenly at them, but is restrained by a chain attached to his collar. Joei pulls a cobra out of her backpack and threatens a man with it if he does not give her the information she wants. The man is cornered, with the snake hissing and spitting at him several times until he relents and tells her what she wants to know. Joei has an asthma attack and is briefly unable to find her inhaler. GUNS/WEAPONS None. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Are you ready to kick some butt?" "Get out of here, you idiot," "That's the problem, you idiot," "What the heck is this stuff?" "You better watch your mouth," "Freaks," "Losers," "Geeks," "Dummies," "What did you say, geek?" "Sing, losers," "Forget the call, geeks," "They look like plastic dolls," "I thought I told you to stay away from those bums," "Go take a long walk off a short pier, jerk," "My name is Alanna Wannabe, and I am gonna be!" "Your fat, little fingers," "Little Miss Chili Pepper," "Stupid-o," "It's really yucky," "I've seen stiffs with better moves," "You're toast," "You have 10 seconds to give me the bum's name," "You smell like low tide," "Whatever," "You can bet it ain't your mommy, sucker," "What are you gonna do, Fatso?" "You guys have flipped your wigs," "That sucks," "I look like a sick Muppet," "Oh my gosh! You scared the heck out of me!" "Look what you did, you stupid fool!" "Hell no, creep!"and "Dumb is dumb, and there ain't nothing dumber." When the older girls don't let her perform with them, Alanna wishes that their hair falls out and that they all get warts. Mr. Wiggs sabotages the stage lights while a competing group is on stage performing. Mark wears earrings. The Wiggies put chewing gum on the backs of the dressing room's chairs so it will get on the Five Ovations costumes and cause them to stick to the seats. One of the singers lets out a long burp just before show time. Later, a commercial director lets out a loud burp after drinking some nasty soda. Just before the Five Ovations take the stage, one of the Wiggies pays a stage hand to sprinkle pepper on the their headset microphones, causing them to sneeze throughout their performance and lose the opening competition. Joei tells Brittany of a man who stole $90,000 from her father, who never recovered from it and eventually died. Brittany has a photo of her father whose face has been colored over with a magic marker. The father's right arm is still visible in the photo and it is shown to have an elaborate wrist tattoo. When Brittany eventually finds her long-lost dad, she identifies him by rolling back his sleeve and revealing the tattoo. A gang of Atlantic City boardwalk youth dress in Goth colors, have colored hair, and spiky haircuts. Brittany wears a long "I Love the Nightlife" night shirt. Brittany sings for money on the boardwalk, and a man stops to give her a $1 bill and takes a $10 bill that was in her case. Joei tells Brittany that a local horse race is fixed and she should bet on the long shot to make the money her grandfather needs to pay their rent. Cameron fakes that she likes a boy at school whose father owns a recording studio so the Five Ovations can gain access to the facility after hours without the dad's knowledge and use the expensive recording equipment. Brittany and Mark's grandfather bets the rent money on horse races. Brittany chastises the man for it until she remembers that Joei gave her a tip on a long shot. She gives $50 to Gramps to bet on the horse, and they end up winning $2,500. Joei bribes a restaurant waiter to put frogs in each of the Wiggies' soups, causing them to go into hysterics. To get her to look and act tough, Joei gives Brittany some licorice, tells her to pretend it's chewing tobacco, and to spit every once in a while for effect (which the girl does at least three times). Joei threatens to use a spray (that's really perfume) on a local hoodlum who can maybe tell her where the man who stole $90,000 from her dead father is. She tells him the spray will cause death if an antidote is not consumed. He relents and tells her what she wants to know. As the Five Ovations are being announced, one of the Wiggies puts her finger in her mouth and makes a brief gag sound. Mr. Wiggs threatens to make the Five Ovations "throw up." While filming her music video in a firehouse, Alanna comically hits one fireman in the belly with a cane as part of her demanding direction. She then goes down the line and hits each of the fire fighters in the stomachs with the cane, telling them to keep their bellies in when dancing. Mr. Wiggs yawns during a performance by Alanna. The Five Ovations eventually get even with Mr. Wiggs and the Wiggies by placing live fleas in their wigs right before they go on stage. When performing, they start to itch uncontrollably and eventually throw off the wigs into the audience causing a brief panic. The Wiggies sabotage the Five Ovations' van to make them late for a big, televised performance in New York City. Mr. Wiggs and his wife scoff and do not applaud any of the other performers who are going up against the Wiggies in the climactic competition. After announcing the grand prize winner, one of the girls who lost is show throwing a temper tantrum on stage, falling to the floor and kicking and screaming. Several of the other girls who lost are also shown crying and acting incredulous. Only one is shown shaking the winning team's hands. Kenny tries to make up to not being there as a dad for Brittany and Mark all these years by lavishing them and their friends with money, gifts, and new homes. JUMP SCENES A snarling dog jumps out suddenly at Joei and Brittany, but is restrained by a chain attached to his collar. A cobra lurches forward several times in a threatening manner, hissing and spitting at a scared man Joei is trying to get information from. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A bit of tense music occurs throughout the film, mostly in scenes where Joei goes into mildly threatening places to confront people with ties to the man who stole money from her deceased father. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None, although just the shear amount of forgettable, throbbing, pulsing, bubble-gum synth pop that one must sit through is darn near maddening. PROFANITY At least 2 "hells," 2 uses of "Oh my God," and 1 use of "Oh, God!" SEX/NUDITY Some of the song-and-dance routines in the film features sequences in which teens and pre-teens are dressed in costumes that show a bit of cleavage (training-bra cleavage) whose skirts do come up in the back at times when twirling. Similarly, some of the on-stage gyrations could be taken as "sexualized" by some viewers. Maya's top rips when she presses her back against a chair that has chewing gum on it, and we briefly see her bra from behind. Her back is exposed again on stage during a sneezing fit. A muscular man is shown shirtless on the Atlantic City boardwalk. Mark videotapes a club performance of the Wiggies, briefly letting the camera linger on one of the members' behinds. Mr. Wiggs is shown from the waist up washing himself in a bathtub. When he gets out to dry himself, we see him bare-chested and we see his bare legs. A belly dancer named Jasmine performs in a highly suggestive manner as the Five Ovations look for backup dancers to make their climactic performance stand out. SMOKING To get her to look and act tough, Joei gives Brittany some licorice and tells her to pretend it's chewing tobacco. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Joei is obsessed with finding the man who stole $90,000 from her father, whose life then fell into a tailspin and eventually died. Mark and Brittany live with their maternal grandfather. It is eventually revealed that their mom is dead and that dad abandoned them when they were very small children. Brittany becomes mad at her brother for agreeing to write songs for the Wiggies, who he feels has more talent than the Five Ovations and can propel him into show business faster. Brittany and her friends steal one of Mark's songs, change the lyrics, and perform it on national TV. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Gambling addiction. Cheating. Winning at all costs. Italian, Irish, and homosexual stereotypes. The trappings of fame. Absentee fathers. Buying forgiveness and love. VIOLENCE A man crashes on a skateboard on the Atlantic City boardwalk when he becomes distracted by the Wiggies filming a performance routine. While filming her music video in a firehouse, Alanna comically hits one fireman in the belly with a cane as part of her demanding direction. She then goes down the line and hits each of the fire fighters in the stomachs with the cane, telling them to keep their bellies in when dancing. When confronted by a local tough, Joei tricks him into reaching into her backpack which contains an electric eel. The guy is shocked repeatedly (mostly for comic effect) and eventually runs away. It is also revealed that her bag contains scorpions. Joei sprays a snarling dog's face with perfume. Reviewed July 16, 2010 / Posted July 16, 2010

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