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Roll out the drums
Low-budget Drumline is a mid-range sleeper hit
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Arthur J Pais
To the list of unexpected low budget hits like Barbershop, welcome Drumline, an entertaining drama with terrific music, which is shaping into a mid-range hit.
For 20th Century Fox, which lost a fortune this month on the sci-fi drama Solaris, Drumline brings quick relief. The movie grossed $12 million in three days and was the third most popular film in North America.
It is a movie aimed at teenagers but its feel-good mood is infectious and allows for a cross over appeal.
Devon (newcomer Nick Cannon), a Harlem high school graduate, heads for Atlanta to play drums in the marching band at a university where he has received full scholarship.
Headstrong and blind to his faults, Devon defies his section leader Sean (Leonard Roberts), a stickler for the rules drawn by band director Dr Lee (Orlando Jones). Devon's self-centered attitude is at odds with Lee's 'one band, one sound' mantra.
Lee has been struggling to give his band a solid reputation. The university authorities think he is too conservative. Could the band be flamboyant and win more attention? And win some funding from the alumni?
To Lee, Devon means more trouble. But the Harlem upstart seems oblivious to the problems he is causing. He also begins putting the moves on a member of the band's dance team (Zoe Saldana).
The movie ends on a predictable note, with its message that it takes more than talent to reach the top, and the importance of team play.
Those who have seen Save The Last Dance and Fame may feel at times all this is familiar stuff.
But the fast-paced and well-acted comedy drama (with a likeable turn by Cannon) with a wonderful, hypnotic soundtrack is more appealing and more honest than many of the films in release with seemingly better claims.
Director Charles Stone III was hardly noticed for his work on Paid In Full. But with good word of mouth, his small movie has started going places.
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