Roll Bounce (2005, Comedy, 116 minutes, Rated PG-13)
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Over the weekend we happened to stumble upon Roll Bounce on a the Cinemax channel “actionMAX.” I am not sure why it was on this channel, but we watched it. This movie proved to be entertaining enough (for the wrong reasons) to keep me from taking a much-needed nap.

We didn’t catch the movie from the very beginning, but it wasn’t hard to surmise the plot: a group of racially-mixed teens compete in a group roller skating competition while dealing with the ladies and growing up in suburbia. Bow “He’ll Always Be Lil’ To Me” Wow stars as Xavier “X” Smith, who is struggling with the almost-recent loss of his mother. There are also some other characters who say words and do things. The movie culminates with a skating championship followed by a skateoff between a man called “Sweetness”, the head of local roller skating celebrities “The Sweetwater Rollers,” and our boy “X.” Despite the Sweetwater Rollers’ clearly superior skillz, X’s group, “The Garden Boys,” manages to tie them in the main competition. Wayne Brady, presumably playing Wayne Brady 28 years ago, agrees to Sweetness’s demand that there cannot be a tie.

So commences the skateoff. I will not tell you how it ends but seriously it is not hard to figure out. Bow Wow’s body double is a pretty good roller skater, I guess.

Summary:
• Great Soundtrack
• (Almost) Completely Predictable
• Oh yes, there will be a friggin’ SKATEOFF
• Difficult to nap to

Roll Bounce

2/4