Movie Review: Roll Bounce

Underdog on skates

And you thought roller disco was ushered into well-deserved obscurity by the silly, glam flash of 1979's "Roller Boogie," an air- headed movie that may have finally derailed Linda Blair's wobbly acting career.

But stop the mirror ball, folks, because Roll Bounce is bounding into the house, with a hugely appealing cast headed by hip- hopper turned actor Bow Wow (don't call him Li'l anymore) and a cheerful story of underdog roller skaters that's filled with garish '70s gags and loads of heart.

It's a throwback comedy steeped in formula and kitschy nostalgia but energized by smart direction and sprightly acting, and it ends up being far more infectious, engaging and entertaining than you'd ever expect it to be.

Directed with a smooth hand by Malcolm D. Lee (The Best Man, Undercover Brother), Roll Bounce is set at the tail end of the plastic-fantastic '70s and concerns a ragtag posse of kids from a working-class Southside Chicago neighborhood who are left on the curb when their shabby, old-school Palisades Gardens skating rink closes its doors.

The crew's leader, Xavier, or X as he's called (played with surprising assurance by Bow Wow), resists when his buddies drag him up to the wealthy North side to the glitzy Sweetwater Rolling Rink, a snooty establishment complete with smooth hardwoods, decks of video games, neon lights and Centipede machines.

X's gang of ragamuffins -- including the smart-aleck Junior (Brandon T. Jackson) and the sassy, brace-mouthed Tori (Jurnee Smollett) -- feel sorely outmatched in this gaudy den of affluence. And their discomfort is painfully exacerbated when they're dissed on the floor by the slinky moves of the preening Sweetness (Wesley Jonathan, oozing deadpan hamminess), the rink's fawned-over champ, and his fascist band of spandex-clad toadies.

At home, X is still struggling with the recent death of his loving, supportive mom and clashing with his well-meaning but aloof father (Chi McBride), who has recently lost his engineering job but keeps the bad news from X and his clingy little sister.

These troubles weigh heavily on X, so much so that he fails to pick up on the come-hither vibe given off by his sexy schoolmate Naomi (Megan Good) and finds his confidence shaken as he preps his buddies for an upcoming showdown with Sweetness at the rink's big annual Skate-Off.

The script by Norman Vance Jr. (Beauty Shop) is perhaps too jam- packed with incident and episode for director Lee to handle adequately.

There are sidetrack scenarios involving a bickering romance between X's dad and a sexy new neighbor (Kellita Smith); the womanizing prowess of Sweetwater's skate-rental clerk (a funny Nick Cannon decked out in Jimi Hendrix gear); the trash-talking antics of a pair of goofy garbage collectors (Mike Epps and Charlie Murphy), and the surprisingly tender drama that comes with X and his stern father finally coming to terms with their shared grief.

With so many things going on at once, Roll Bounce sometimes feels in danger of skating into narrative gridlock. But in the end, it glides through on chipper good spirits and an appealing tone of hopeful innocence.

With Bow Wow showing promise of becoming a charismatic actor and with an uneven but energetic tale that delivers lots of disco cool (in Stanley Clarke's jumping musical score and samples of tunes such as Bill Withers' "Lovely Day," Chic's "Le Freak" and Taste of Honey's "Boogie Oogie Oogie"), Roll Bounce delivers a jaunty good time at the skating rink.

Quality: * * * (on a scale of zero to four stars)