Bandslam (2009)
Directed by Todd Graff
Written by Todd Graff, Josh A. Cagan
Starring Aly Michalka, Gaelen Connell, Vanessa Hudgens, Scott Porter, Lisa Kudrow,
Release Date August 14th, 2009
Published August 16th, 2009
After more than a decade as a film critic it is very rare that a movie can sneak up on me. I am generally well informed and aware of most aspects of a movie before I see it. I keep an open mind but it would be nearly impossible not to have expectations of a movie based on the trailer, the commercials, the stars and the director.
That is certainly the case with the teen comedy Bandslam. The film stars an unknown young man and two Disney channel divas, one of whom is best known for the vanilla High School Musical franchise. Bandslam comes from Summit Entertainment, the company behind the marketing phenomenon that is Twilight and Walden Media, the church lead movie company behind such forgettable fare as Hoot and Because of Winn Dixie.
Expectations were very, very low for Bandslam. Then I actually saw it and my expectations were trumped by a smile that refused to leave my face. Bandslam is a musically literate, adroit teen comedy that packs a number of surprising and honestly moving moments in the midst of some typical High School movie plotting.
The film stars Gaelan Connell as Will Burton a terminal outcast who spends his free time soaked in musical arcana. He writes daily missives to his hero David Bowie and longs for the day he can escape Cincinnati where his father has brought the family an infamy Will cannot escape.
Will gets his wish when his mom (Lisa Kudrow) tells him they are moving to New Jersey. At first, things aren't that different, Will is still an outcast, but things pick up when Charlotte (Aly Mischalka) randomly chooses Will to be her friend. Charlotte is a former cheerleader turned rocker chick who picks up stray outcasts to be her friends and bandmates.
She and Will bond over music but she makes clear she has no interest in him romantically. The musical bond leads to Will becoming the manager of Charlotte's band which in the near future will play Bandslam and go head to head for a record contract with Charlotte's ex-boyfriend (Scott Porter) and his band The Glorydogs.
The band is good but Will see's potential and begins to round out the sound with a few more outcasts, including a strange cello player and an Asian exchange student with a talent for piano. Meanwhile, Will begins a flirtation with Sa5m; the 5 is silent. She has a secret past as well as a musician but their bond is more romantic than musical. At least at first.
Directed by Todd Graf, who's Camp was another wonderful movie about musical outsiders. Like Camp, Bandslam is a musically literate teen flick held together by a lead performance by Gaelan Connell that evokes a young John Cusack. No kidding, the kid is that good.
It's a movie of terrific musical taste that runs the gamut from indie rock to ska to The Velvet Underground and David Bowie who shows up late in the film as required by Will's quirk of regularly writing him letters. Graf does well to manage the musical tastes of his fictional teens keeping them smart without being too smart, the music played by the bands at Bandslam is purely the contemporary pop radio stuff one would expect of teens playing in a garage.
That touch of truthfulness gives depth to the movie as do the complicated, believable relationships between these terrific characters. I mentioned Connell as the film's center but he is matched well by Mischalka, an actress I was not familiar with before this film. I am told she is a star of some teen sitcom, wherever she came from she is on her way to big things. I loved the random way she and Connell bond on screen and later when expected complications arise she deftly roots the character in behavior that comes directly from the life experience of this character and not the unnatural, necessary behavior of some teen movie drone.
Also strong is Vanessa Hudgens in an unexpectedly small role. When I saw that one of the stars of High School Musical was in Bandslam I naturally assumed she would be the star. Hudgens however, melts right into this ensemble cast. Though the name Sa5m is a little precious, Hudgens does well to underplay the character quirks. And just wait till she gets on stage to deliver a rockin' version of Bread's "Everything I Own". Wow! Not kidding, great stuff.
The music of Bandslam is a wonderfully curious mix. Bread and Cheap Trick mix effortlessly with Bowie and The Velvet Underground and with such modern rockers as The Daze and Peter, Bjorn and John. Director Graf has experience with mixing musical tastes, in Camp he mixed showtunes and rock and roll with breezy good natured ease.
What fun it is to be surprised. Bandslam looked like just another teen coming of age movie. Thankfully, in its love of music, music literacy and clever and engaging characters, Bandslam transcends genre and low expectations becomes a terrific little movie.
