66
Metascore
20 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenThe Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenHad Cameron Crowe and the late John Hughes collaborated on a movie populated by Disney Channel superstars, the result might have looked and sounded a lot like Todd Graff's Bandslam. And that's meant as a compliment.
- 80VarietyVarietyHigh school musicals have their scrappiest number in Bandslam, an awkward, earnest, almost irresistible indie.
- 75Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumMisfit teens in the process of forming a high school band learn life lessons and raise their goblets of rock. But there's enough of a strong filmmaking backbeat in Bandslam to carry the movie's light tune.
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThis isn’t a breakthrough movie, but for what it is, it’s charming, and not any more innocuous than it has to be.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceTodd Graff's film is written with a desperate cleverness that clamors for attention over the brainless against-the-odds music-competition plot.
- 70New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanBest of all is newcomer Connell, the kind of charismatic kid who would have been cast in "Freaks and Geeks" ten years ago.
- 67Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesAustin ChronicleKimberley JonesBandslam belongs to Connell. He has the unruly 'fro and endearing shamblingness of a young Daniel Stern, and he ably brings to life that rarest of cinematic qualities: decency.
- 67The A.V. ClubNathan RabinThe A.V. ClubNathan RabinThroughout its first two acts, Bandslam is charming, sweet, and funny enough to merit inclusion in the upper echelon of teen comedies. Then comes a third act weighed down with arbitrary romantic conflicts, leaden melodrama, and a tiresome subplot.
- 63St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsSt. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsTwo incompatible movies duke it out in Bandslam. Although it's the wimpy teen musical that prevails, it's the misfit coming-of-age story that leaves an impression.
- 60EmpireAnna SmithEmpireAnna SmithSurprisingly watchable despite the formulaic teen format.