Tagline: Band Together.
When gifted singer-songwriter Charlotte Banks (Aly Michalka) asks new kid in town Will Burton (Gaelan Connell) to manage her fledgling rock band, she appears to have just one goal in mind: go head-to-head against her egotistical musician ex-boyfriend, Ben (Scott Porter), at the biggest event of the year, a battle of the bands called Bandslam. Against all odds, their band develops a sound all its own with a real shot at success in the contest. Meanwhile, romance brews between Will and Sa5m (Vanessa Hudgens), who plays a mean guitar and has a voice to die for. When disaster strikes, it’s time for the band to make a choice: Do they admit defeat, or face the music and stand up for what they believe in?
Bandslam also known as High School Rock is a 2009 American musical and romantic comedy drama film produced by Summit Entertainment and Walden Media. Written by Josh A. Cagan and Todd Graff, it stars Aly Michalka, Vanessa Hudgens, Gaelan Connell, Lisa Kudrow, Scott Porter, Ryan Donowho, and Tim Jo.
The story revolves around Will and Charlotte, who form an unlikely bond through their shared love of music. Assembling a like-minded crew of misfits, the friends form a rock group and perform in a battle of the bands competition called “Bandslam”. Bandslam was shot in Austin, Texas, with additional scenes filmed in New York City. The film generated mostly positive reviews but it failed to chart in the top 10 when it was released on August 14, 2009 in the US, where it grossed only $2,250,000 on the weekend. In a brief cameo, this was David Bowie’s final film appearance before his death in 2016.
Despite receiving positive reviews, the film was not a box office success. In its opening weekend, Bandslam grossed $2,231,273 million in 2,121 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #13 at the box office. By the end of its run, Bandslam grossed $5,210,988 domestically and $7,014,035 internationally, totaling $12,225,023 worldwide.
About the Story
Will Burton (Gaelan Connell) is a music enthusiast and a David Bowie fan with a hint of rock and roll and boy next door. Throughout the movie, Will writes journal-like e-mails to Bowie every day, although Bowie never answers. When Will’s mother Karen (Lisa Kudrow) finds a new job, he switches to a new school, which he is eager to do since he was bullied at his previous one. During lunch one day at his new school, he meets a girl who says her name is written Sa5m but pronounced Sam, the 5 is silent (Vanessa Hudgens).
She tells him about Bandslam, an annual music competition in which the winning band gets a recording contract. Will and Sa5m quickly become friends but, shortly after, he is sought after by another girl named Charlotte Barnes (Aly Michalka). One afternoon, Charlotte asks Will to join her in an after-school day-care center. When she starts inviting him to hang out with her, the teenager is stunned—as is his single mother Karen. Impressed by his eclectic knowledge of music, Charlotte, who is a gifted singer-songwriter, asks Will to manage her rock/ska band. Her goal is apparently to take revenge on her egocentric musician ex-boyfriend Ben Wheatley (Scott Porter) during Bandslam.
Unsure of what he is getting himself into, Will agrees to help Charlotte’s band (later called I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On) which includes Bug (Charlie Saxton) and Omar (Tim Jo), eventually expanding it with more like-minded outcasts. Against all odds, the group’s sound starts to come together and their prospects for success look bright. Will starts losing his “loser-status”, but the band gets in the way of completing a project he was going to do with Sa5m.
After spending a day with Sa5m, Charlotte teaches Will how to properly kiss a girl, by demonstrating on him that night, which his mother sees. Will takes Sa5m to the Overlook and, after an awkward start, successfully kisses her, after which Sa5m shyly asks Will to accompany her to a movie screening, which he agrees to. However, Will stands Sa5m up, breaking the date for a concert with Charlotte. After that, Sa5m starts ignoring Will at school; he visits her house, hoping to apologize. Her mom shows him a video of a younger Sa5m performing “Everything I Own”, leading Sa5m to be outraged and order Will to leave. As an apology, he makes a touching documentary short about her for his Human Studies project (with the song “Young Folks” included in it) and she eventually forgives him.
After Will accidentally ruins Ben’s attempt to reconcile with Charlotte, Ben decides to do a little research on him, in order to ruin his image. He finds out about Will’s father, who was sent to prison years ago when he accidentally killed a child while driving drunk. Ben then starts to call Will “Dewey” (just as other students did at his old school), which stands for “DWI” (“Driving While Intoxicated”). Will detests this nickname because it reminds him of his father, whom he is ashamed of.
What is more, Charlotte’s father dies and she decides to quit the band. As she explains to Will, her father hated how she acted when she was with her ex-boyfriend, so after he got sick, she decided to change her image and be nicer to “people like [Will]”, meaning outcasts, hoping that this good behavior would cause her dad to get well. The band members are hurt by this discovery, as it means she did not genuinely like them, but they decide to go on nonetheless, with Sa5m taking over as lead singer.
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Bandslam (2009)
Directed by: Todd Graff
Starring: Gaelan Connell, Vanessa Hudgens, Aly Michalka, Lisa Kudrow, Scott Porter, Ryan Donowho, Elvy Yost, Casey Williams, Blair Bomar, Maggie Maye, Jennifer Blair, Zach Thatcher, Nikka Graff Lanzarone
Screenplay by: Todd Graff
Production Design by: Jeff Knipp
Cinematography by: Eric Steelberg
Film Editing by: John Gilbert
Costume Design by: Ernesto Martinez
Set Decoration by: Carla Curry
Art Direction by: John Frick
MPAA Rating: PG for thematic elements and mild language.
Distributed by: Summit Entertainment
Release Date: August 14, 2009
Visits: 116
