Sometimes,
even a film with more formula than a baby’s bottle can still
seem fresh and inspiring. Such is the case with Charles Stone
III’s second film of the year – following the excellent but
little seen Paid in Full – Drumline. Who’d of
thought that a Hoosiers-meets-Rocky tale about
marching band – yes, marching band – would be so darn
entertaining?
I
certainly didn’t. This film looked about as appetizing as
Spam-infused Clam Chowder, the three-day old variety at that.
Well serve me up a bowl for Drumline is the most giddily
entertaining film to grace theaters since Bring It On and
could turn into a sleeper hit along the same scale as that 2000
cheerleading bauble.
Gifted
drummer Devon (Cannon) has just graduated from high school with
a full scholarship to attend marching band mecca Atlanta A&T.
He’s an individualistic musician, fully confident in the
superiority of his own skills, feeling his own needs and style
should be superior to that of the band.
Where that
was accepted in high school due to Devon’s standout brilliance,
that kind of self-serving attitude just doesn’t fly with the
esteemed director of A&T’s program, Dr. James Lee (Orlando
Jones, showing a lot of charm and nuance in a non-comedic turn).
His mantra is, "One band, one sound," and it is by this coda
that Dr. Lee has staked his entire career.
Soon,
Devon is making waves with the senior leader of the drumline,
Sean (Leonard Roberts, He Got Game), who feels the young
wunderkind’s arrogance is detrimental to the band. Soon, they’re
at each other’s throats trying to prove whose mettle carries the
most weight.
What more,
the program itself is in peril unless the duo can put aside
their differences. A&T must put in a stellar showing at the
upcoming BET Big Southern Classic and unseat cross-town rival
Morris Brown University or donations to the program could vanish
thus ending the college’s storied marching band tradition. Can
these two set aside their differences and help lead A&T to
victory saving the program? Will Dr. Lee get through to Devon
and help him understand the importance of teamwork?
Do I even
have to ask? There aren’t any surprises in Drumline;
anyone even remotely familiar with other underdog tales knows
the outcome can only be a good one. The joy of the movie is in
the getting there, and Drumline gets so much of the
little stuff right that the denouement ends up being nothing
less than rousing.
Stone
infuses his film with wonderful thee-dimensional characters.
Young Cannon, in what is essentially his first film role,
commands the screen with charisma to spare. I was never put off
by his arrogance for there is a constant air of grace and
understanding bubbling boldly within the character. Where Devon
is too self-assured behind a drum for his own good, he’s willing
to take his lumps and learn life’s nuances where everything else
is concerned.
This is
crystal clear when it comes to Devon’s requisite romance with
upperclassman Laila (Zoë Saldana, Crossroads). The two
actors have any easy charm together and the writing by Tina
Gordon Chism and Shawn Schepps is assured and delicate allowing
the two actors to slowly waltz their way into love.
Drumline
saves its best beats for the marching band competition final
with the two school’s drumlins going head-to-head for the BET
Classic crown. The musician and showmanship on display is
exhilarating, both bands so good that I actually felt a slight
amount of uncertainty as to whom the champion would eventually
be.
No worries
there, of course, as Drumline follows the grace notes of
many of the inspirational team tales that have come before. But
what the movie lacks in originality it certainly makes up for it
in sheer joy, and I’ll take marching out of the theater with a
smile to the alternative any day.
