ROLL BOUNCE — ** — Bow Wow, Chi McBride, Wesley Jonathan; rated PG-13 (profanity, vulgarity, violence, racial epithets); see Page W2 for theaters.
OK, so they actually made a 21st century movie about roller-disco? Without the slightest trace of irony?
"Roll Bounce" is an homage to a craze that was popular during the late '70s. And you do have to admire the filmmakers for trying to revive something that's seen as being pretty uncool these days.
But perhaps the oddest thing about this period piece is that it's so ambitious . . . perhaps a little too ambitious. The film tries to do too many different things at the same time, and the jumbling of goofy comedy and heavy drama doesn't work very well.
Shad "Bow Wow" Moss stars as Xavier Smith, or X, a south-side Chicago teen who spends most of his afternoons roller-skating with his buddies. However, their favorite rink recently closed, so they've been forced to go to the north side, where they're not hot stuff anymore.
In fact, the rink there is ruled by Sweetness (Wesley Jonathan) and his crew, who haven't exactly made X and friends feel welcome. So X and his pals enter a competition that they hope will get them respect. Unfortunately, his father (Chi McBride) has other plans for him.
It almost feels as if director Malcolm D. Lee and screenwriter Norman Vance Jr. are trying to remake the 1977 hit "Saturday Night Fever," but neither the material nor the talent here takes it to that level. The more dramatic plot elements don't work that well, either.
Worse, there's not nearly enough skating . . . until the very end. Instead, the film is heavy on subplots — several of which should have been cut.
There are also a series of distracting and irksome supporting performances from Mike Epps and Charlie Murphy (playing wisecracking garbage men), as well as Nick Cannon, who seems to be doing all he can these days to make us forget about his promising lead performance in 2002's "Drumline."
"Roll Bounce" is rated PG-13 for scattered use of profanity, some sexually suggestive humor and references, some violence (mostly slapstick), and use of a few racial epithets. Running time: 107 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com