Customer Reviews

Roll Bounce [VHS]

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Roll/Bounce is an excellent movie!

I was pleasantly surprised with just how good this film is. The movie has a great look to it and manages to come across as funny, touching, visually pleasing and very well acted.

Cant recommend this one enough! Roll on out and pick yourself up a copy.

Highly recommended!

This ISN'T Joseph. I am his oldest daughter.

I love this movie. It potrays the seventies as a really cool time. The skating moves were awesome and the plot was really cool. The actors were great, especially Mixed Mike (Khleo Thomas) and X (Shad Moss a.k.a. Bow Wow). Although, Nick Cannon wasn't all that great.

The music was really great and it definitely fits the movie.

People you have got to go see this movie. It's hilarious and it will have you dancing in your seat the whole time.

It is terribly unfortunate that Roll Bounce came and went to the theater without much notice. It is unfortunate, because it is the kind of film that people should be watching today. It is a heartwarming, life affirming film about five boyhood friends who want to do nothing more than be able to skate (roller not in line) at their favorite roller rink.

The time is somewhere around 1978 and the boys are all black. It's a black film right? Wrong!

The script is not unique in its overall direction, because we've seen similar in Saturday Night Fever and Rocky. While the roller skating could be equated with the dancing from S N Fever, the emotional context of this film share far more in line with Rocky.

The race of the characters has nothing to do with the film and yet it has everything to do with the film. Huh?

It has nothing to do with the film, because the characters are real, living and breathing people with real problems. And yet, there is no discussion of drugs, gangs, or guns. Oh there's a sexual aspect to the film, but of the "wholesome" variety. We see how young boys react to looking at beautiful girls and how men deal with being "on the market" to single women. It's funny and charming, not base or purile.

Race has everything to do with this film too, because it demonstrates that a film made by and for the black community doesn't have to rely on four letter words, sex, drugs, gangs, and guns to be good (Not one pimp or prostitute is present). It demonstrates that films of social significance can be made highlighting the best parts of the black community not the worst.

So what's it about?

Xavier - or X as his friends call him (Bow Wow) and his buddies are all avid roller skaters. Unfortunately their hangout - a roller rink - gets closed down. They must now travel to the north side of town, which is more white than their side of town. None of these boys are poor, but they don't come from wealthy families either - they're middle class. Yet when they arrive at the north side roller rink, many of the people there, including other black folks, treat them like trash. This is cause for the conflict in the film - rather than act like thugs, they do the Hollywood thing and challenge each other to a roller skating contest.

Their is a human element at work in this film that is leaps and bounds above most others. The boys rag on each other and talk bad about each other's mothers. It's all in good fun - and it's a heck of a lot of fun for us too. It's a drama with lots of comic touches - but first and foremost it's a roller skating film done the way they should have been when they were first made - actually back in the 1970's.

X's father (Chi McBride) is a highly educated man, but, in part, due to his race, he cannot get a decent job and is forced to take demeaning work in order to support his children (another emotional link in this film is that X's mother has recently passed away and no one has yet faced this reality fully).

The skating is dynamite and is fun to watch. The acting is top notch. Who knew that Bow Wow was as good an actor as he is?!

You can't miss with this film folks. I guarantee you'll like it.

It's as refreshing as anything you're likely to see in a very long time.

A nostalgic movie in which kids actually knocked on doors to play with other kids. A time when kids would go outside, come back home before dark, and quench their thirst with a big pitcher of Kool-Aid fruit punch. "Ohhhh yeah!!!!"

No web surfing, no cable, no cell phones. No Ipod.

Living in the 70's was still groovy.

I was a little skeptical at first but about 5 minutes into the movie I was convinced this was going to be pretty good. Being a 70's child myself the fashion, hairstyles, and music brought back a lot of cool memories and I found myself smiling a lot. All the actors (especially Nick Cannon) were very convincing as 70's charcters and the movie was well directed. Defintiely one for my personal collection.

This movie took me back to 1978, Wednesday nights, and the fun and joy I used to have at the skating rink.

I loved this movie because I came of age around the same time frame and I could relate to their love of skating.

The relationship between X and his father, following his mother's untimely death added a serious aspect to the movie. Bow Wow has come into his own as an actor and was enjoyable and believable.

The music was slamming!!!!

This is a great DVD to keep in your collection for when you just wanna hop in your time machine and head back to 1978.

I really enjoyed this movie! It took me back to my childhood, growing up in hoods where you weren't afraid to allow your children to go out and play for extended periods of time. The part that really got me is when they looked up and the street lights were on. LOL...My mother said the same thing, make sure your home before the street lights come on. The music was fantastic, it made you wanna get up and move. I give this one the thumbs up!

I just bought this DVD on December 13th and today is the 17th and I've probably watched it 10 times already. Various family members have watched it with me repeatedly because it's a feel-good movie. It makes you remember the innocence of youth and the times when you were unsure of what the future would bring. I enjoyed Bow Wow's portrayal so much and think if he ever wanted to give up rapping, acting would be a good job for him to flourish in.

Brandon Jackson as Junior was also excellent in this movie, as were the other group of boys who helped Xavier (Bow Wow) overcome the passing of his mother and the tension with his father. Xavier and Curtis (Chi) had great father-and-son chemistry and I hope to see them together in something else in the future.

It was nice seeing Meagan and Jurnee team up once again (Eve's Bayou being their first movie together) and enjoyed the fact that two girls hanging around the same boy could be friends and not jealous adversaries.

Kudos to Mike Epps and Charlie Murphy for bringing the laughs... the pair were great with the delivery of their lines and had me busting a gut everytime they were on. Ricky Gonzalez as Naps and Marcus T. Paulk as Boo and Khleo Thomas asWhite Mike were equally amusing and entertaining to watch.

And Wesley Jonathan was great as Sweetness. He didn't have many lines but the man is FIONE beyond words and has the sexiest lips and rock-hard chest! I loved how the girls and women went nuts whenever Sweetness appeared on the screen. Sweetness and Xavier's rivalry on skates was breathtaking to watch. The choreography was too much. I didn't know watching others roller skating could be just as fun as doing it yourself.

I sure wish we could get more African American movies like this. There was no shooting, no women being called derogatory names, and good soulful music making the movie a breath of fresh air. And the script was just plain fun, with heartbreaking moments, awkwardness between teenagers coming of age, and always kept a smile on my face.

I'd give this movie 10 stars if I could. The acting was great, the music wonderful, and never had a dull moment. Bow Wow and the gang has a winner here.

And who else remembered all-night skating whenever they showed the actors skating? It's been a while since I skated but this movie makes me want to go out and put on a pair and boogie oogie til I just can't boogie no more :)

Any movie that opens with Parlament's "Flashlight" playing will find a spot in any 70's childs heart. Acting is not too shabby either. if you were raised in this era, you will appreciate this flick. If not..... you should still dig the music. Not too vulgar, so it's something you can watch with the kids. Watch for hip hop hall of famer DMC duing the opening credits.

This movie didn't get the advertising it deserved and it wasn't in theatres long enough for people to discover just how good it is. First of all, it's appropriate for the whole family. I own it and have seen it 3 times; it always makes me smile. The basic plot is: Xavier & his friend's skating rink closes & they have to go to a new state of the art rink across town. That rink has a skater there called "Sweetness". He has an entourage with matching outfits, dancing girls, his own theme song and even fainting fans! Xavier and his crew challenge them to a skate-off contest. No, this does not give away the plot at all. Also, Xavier, his sister & dad are grieving over the death of their mom & wife, respectively. There's no sex and violence, just a very very nice movie that shows African Americans in a positive light. There are some comic moments, and also some heartfelt ones. The music is great and it made me want to go roller skating again. The clothes and hairstyles also brought back some good memories. Buy this one.