Bow Wow boogies on a pair of skates
Published 9:00 pm Thursday, September 22, 2005
There’s more stuff going on in the ’70s roller boogie comedy-drama-romance “Roll Bounce” than there are mirrored panels on a disco ball.
Crammed with enough real-life traumas and feel-good turnarounds to fill a couple of after-school specials, the film from director Malcolm D. Lee is well-intentioned but wildly uneven.
But it does have an undeniable energy during the skating sequences, which feature elaborate choreography and a soundtrack jam-packed with period songs.
And the artist formerly known as Lil’ Bow Wow – who now goes by just Bow Wow – shows he’s a confident, natural actor as he emerges from his teens and from earlier, more youthful roles in movies like “Like Mike.”
| Rap and rollerball: The closing of the local roller rink forces a group of friends in the 1970s to head uptown to a more posh hangout. It’s all formulaic, but Bow Wow is likable enough to make most of the movie tolerable.
Rated: PG-13 for language, some crude humor. Now showing: Alderwood 7, Galaxy 12. |
It would appear initially that “Roll Bounce” is aimed at his core audience, but as the movie goes on, it’s hard to tell. Yes, there’s an easy exuberance with which Bow Wow’s Xavier (or “X” as he’s known) pals around with his skate buddies.
But X still has yet to cope with the death of his mother a year earlier, leaving him with his father (Chi McBride), who lost his engineering job but still puts on a suit and leaves the house as if he’s going to work each morning, and his younger sister.
The movie also tries to be socially and politically relevant as X and his young friends bitingly joke with one another about race.
And the whole endeavor is set against the backdrop of the socio-economic disparity between Chicago’s South Side – where X and his friends live – and the wealthier North Side, where they’re forced to skate once their run-down local rink closes.
The shinier Sweetwater rink has smooth hardwoods, neon lights and Centipede machines. All these story lines converge at – you guessed it – the Big Skate Off, which Sweetness and his tightly clothed crew always win, and where X and his posse pose a threat.
The event is exceedingly earnest, but with an ambiguously gay vibe to it, with Sweetness dropping to his knees and ripping off his silky black button-down shirt, his smooth chest heaving with artistic and athletic passion.
It’s all formulaic, but Bow Wow is likable enough to make most of the movie tolerable. Besides, you may as well just give in, because you know there’s going to be a “Roll Bounce 2: Electric Boogaloo.”
