Roll Bounce

Roll Bounce (Director: Malcolm D. Lee)

Spike Lee's cousin directed The Best Man and Undercover Brother. Norman Vance, Jr. of Beauty Shop infamy wrote the screenplay.

The next entry into hobby sports in a 2005 slate full of them (see Ice Princess, Madison, Lords of Dogtown, Supercross) concerns rollerskating. Now all we need is a movie about fishing, maybe darts, foosball (a movie that was entertained in Hans Bjordahl's "Where the Buffalo Roam" as Wrists of Fire), water polo? Here, as far as the sport is concerned, we once again have a rich versus poor setup that is the theme of all of these movies.

Xavier (Bow Wow) is an awesome rollerskater who has just lost his mother. His father Curtis (Chi McBride) tries the best he can to raise he and his sister, but he's just lost his airline job and times are getting tight. Xavier and his crew (Rick Gonzalez in his 3rd movie this year after Coach Carter and War of the Worlds, Khleo Thomas, Marcus T. Paulk, Brandon T. Jackson, and later Jurnee Smollett) spend the summer skating and checking out chicks. Their hometown rink gets closed down, and they have to go to the north side of town. There, they get a glimpse of rollerskating god Sweetness (Wesley Jonathan) and his crew, later to become their rivals, and Xavier meets his love, Naomi (the freakin' hot Meagan Good). Oh, how to juggle this love of rollerskating and teenage angst?

This is the best of the lot as far as these movies go. It has a more compelling story, better performances, and best of all, just a fun little movie. There are a lot of unbelievable moments here--like, how do Xavier and company decide to pick a song just before their competition is about to begin and not practice it, and get completely in-sync for showtime? It's something that is easily forgotten; we're not talking The Godfather here.

Other performers of note: Mike Epps and Charlie Murphy as sanitation workers, beautiful Kellita Smith ("The Bernie Mac Show") as McBride's love interest, Wayne Brady as a competition judge, and Darryl "DMC" McDaniels as a rink DJ. A great 70's soundtrack. Third options for your movie enjoyment over a weekend don't get much better.