[Screen It]

 

"ROLL BOUNCE"
(2005) (Bow Wow, Chi McBride) (PG-13)

If you've come from our parental review of this film and wish to return to it, simply click on your browser's BACK button.
Otherwise, use the following link to read our complete Parental Review of this film.

QUICK TAKE:
Drama: A teenager must deal with family and girl issues as he and his friends prepare to compete in a roller-skating dance-off in 1970s era Chicago.
PLOT:
It's the summer of 1978 in Chicago and Xavier Smith (BOW WOW), or "X" as he's called, likes to hang out with his friends Mixed Mike (KHLEO THOMAS), Naps (RICK GONZALEZ), Boo (MARCUS T. PAULK) and Junior (BRANDON T. JACKSON) at the local roller rink when not interacting with garbage men Byron (MIKE EPPS) and Victor (CHARLIE MURPHY). But Mike's adolescent life is going through major upheavals. There's the standard girl issue where he likes but isn't sure how to act around the alluring Naomi (MEAGAN GOOD), much to the chagrin of his new friend and neighbor Tori (JURNEE SMOLLETT).

His mom has recently died, leaving his dad Curtis (CHI McBRIDE) to try to maintain the status quo raising X and his younger sister all while dealing with Tori's sexy mom Vivian (KELLITA SMITH). And then there's the fact that the Palisades Gardens roller rink, which has served as his home away from home, is closing its doors. That forces X and his south-side buddies to have to head to the north of town to skate at the far swankier Sweetwater Roller Rink that's managed by Bernard (NICK CANNON).

There, the undisputed skating champion is Sweetness (WESLEY JONATHAN) who, along with his skating team that includes the likes of Troy (PAUL WESLEY), looks down on outsiders such as X and his friends. As X tries to deal with all of the changes in his life, he and his friends prepare to challenge Sweetness and his team in a skate-off with the city bragging rights at stake.

OUR TAKE: 5 out of 10
In the latest example of things one can learn by watching and reviewing movies, we now have a brief history of roller skates. While I knew they certainly weren't new and obviously pre-dated inline skates by decades if not longer, I had no idea they were first marketed by a Belgian entrepreneur by the name of Joseph Merlin who began selling them in 1760 London a few years after being invented by someone who disappeared into historical anonymity.

Flash forward some two hundred years later and the mobile footwear had become insanely popular, with roller rinks all around the world and a quirky little sport in the U.S. known as roller derby sprouting up from that. The skates got a resurgence in the 1970s when the movie "Rollerball" came out but especially when someone decided that skating and disco music went hand in hand (or would that be hand in foot). Whatever the case, soon scores of people were bopping around the rinks to the rhythmic sounds of the Bee Gees, Donna Summer and K.C. & the Sunshine Band.

Not surprisingly, Hollywood tried to cash in on the craze and the result was 1979's "Roller Boogie," a silly B-movie drama notable only for starring Linda Blair six years after being exorcised in that little film about possession. Following the RB debacle (and 1980's "Xanadu" for which the less said the better), Hollywood pretty much gave up on roller skating movies just as suddenly as when I hit the floor as a kid decades ago after deciding to try the rubber break on the front of my rented skates while traveling at full speed (thankfully, no disco music was involved at the time).

Since the '70s are back in vogue, however, it should come as no surprise that disco roller skating has tagged along with, this time in the form of "Roll Bounce." A dramedy set in the summer of 1978, the film stars Bow Wow (a.k.a. Shad Moss minus the "Lil" that once preceded his professional moniker) as a teen whose life is in turmoil but finds joy in skating with his friends. When their local rink closes, however, they must travel uptown to skate at a swankier club where they eventually compete against the obligatory antagonists for bragging rights.

No, it doesn't sound terribly promising, but upon learning that the director also helmed 2002's guilty throwback pleasure, "Undercover Brother," I held out some hope. After all, that parody was set in the same era and while nothing brilliant, it was fun and, more importantly, proceeded with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

Unfortunately, director Malcolm D. Lee (who previously helmed "The Best Man") and writer Norman Vance Jr. ("Beauty Shop") have jettisoned the satire for an uneven comedy/drama mix. While some of its separate parts and moments range from decent to fun, others stick out like blistered big toes that have been jammed into skates that are several sizes too small.

First, the parts that work. Young master Wow ("Johnson Family Vacation," "Like Mike") plays a kid whose mother has recently died and whose father has tried to keep up the false pretenses of normal family life, but has also withdrawn into himself at the same time. There's some decent familial chemistry between the young actor and veteran performer Chi McBride ("The Terminal," "Undercover Brother") and for the most part it plays true rather than coming off as maudlin as one might expect.

The friend-based chemistry between Bow Wow and those playing his friends -- Khleo Thomas, Rick Gonzalez, Marcus T. Paulk and Brandon T. Jackson -- also works decently, as does his non-romantic relationship with Jurnee Smollett ("Beautiful Joe," "Eve's Bayou") as the new and rather appealing girl next door.

Where the film works best, however, and is the most fun, is in the skating scenes. While nothing you haven't seen before and certainly nothing terribly visually creative, they're infectiously fun. That's particularly true during the climatic skate-off sequence where our young hero tries to compete against the seasoned pro played by Wesley Jonathan ("Baadasssss!" "The United States of Leland") who has something of a Prince-style, oozing sexuality. There's no doubt who should win such a contest -- particularly as we see it play out -- but being a feel good, Hollywood flick, there's little doubt about the outcome.

What doesn't work is a running subplot featuring Mike Epps ("The Honeymooners," "Friday After Next") and Charlie Murphy ("King's Ransom," "The Players Club") as the local garbage men who lasciviously stare at neighborhood women or make various wisecracks. I realize they're present as comic relief characters, but unless you're a diehard fan of one and/or the other, the laughs are at a pure minimum at best. They and their recurring bits easily could have been jettisoned with no ill effect, which also holds true for a few brief moments featuring Nick Cannon ("Underclassman," "Drumline") in a surprisingly small supporting role.

The film's antagonists - the skating champion and his team of arrogant, choreographed cronies -- are one dimensional at their best, and while Jonathan can get by with that simply due to his magnetic presence, the others are as believable as cardboard. And all of those various elements don't gel together like they should, giving the film something of a herky-jerky feel as it skips from one genre element to the next and then back again.

Certainly nothing great or novel, the film is moderately entertaining and modestly successful, meaning "Roll Bounce" skates its way to a 5 out of 10 rating.




Reviewed August 23, 2005 / Posted September 23, 2005


Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.

All Rights Reserved,
©1996-2023 Screen It, Inc.