Roll Bounce

Roll Bounce
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Malcolm D. Lee
Written by	Norman Vance Jr.
Produced by	Tyrone D. Dixon Dana Reid Adam Robinson Jeremiah Samuels Robert Teitel George Tillman Jr.
Starring	Bow Wow Chi McBride Mike Epps Wesley Jonathan Meagan Good Nick Cannon
Cinematography	J. Michael Muro
Edited by	George Bowers Paul Millspaugh
Music by	Stanley Clarke
Production company	State Street Pictures
Distributed by	Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release date	September 23, 2005
Running time	112 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$10 million[1]
Box office	$17.5 million[2]

Roll Bounce is a 2005 American comedy-drama film written by Norman Vance Jr. and directed by Malcolm D. Lee. The film stars hip hop artist Bow Wow as the leader of a roller skating crew in 1970s Chicago. The film also stars Nick Cannon, Meagan Good, Brandon T. Jackson, Wesley Jonathan, Chi McBride, Kellita Smith and Jurnee Smollett. The name of the film is derived from the 1979 song "Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll" by Vaughan Mason & Crew.

Plot[]

Set in 1978 Chicago, Roll Bounce tells the story of a 16-year-old named Xavier Curtis "X" Smith and his friends Junior, Boo, Naps and Mixed Mike from a southern suburb of the city who share a passion for roller skating. After the local roller rink the Palisade Garden closes down, Xavier and his friends, along with his new neighbor Tori, are forced to spend their summer skating in the ritzy uptown rink "Sweetwater" where they are disrespected by the five-year roller disco contest champions, Sweetness and his crew, the Sweetwater Rollers. They decide to enter the contest themselves to earn their place at the rink. During this time, Xavier reconnects with an old crush Naomi.

Xavier's home life is strained following the passing of his mother, leaving his father Curtis struggling to take care of both Xavier and his sister Sonya while also struggling to restore his late wife's car. Curtis finds Xavier's interest in skating a waste of time and prefers him to be around the house to take care of chores. Unbeknownst to Xavier and Sonya, Curtis had lost his job as an aerospace engineer and has been struggling to find employment, eventually having to settle taking a job as a janitor. Curtis strikes up a connection with Tori's mother Vivian, who was initially hostile toward Curtis for taking Tori to the roller rink with Xavier without Vivian's permission, but warmed up to him after learning of his wife's passing. Xavier eventually learns about his father's unemployment when he finds his car for sale and confronts him. In a rage, Xavier's smashed the windows of his late mother's car before both he and Curtis break down in tears, realizing neither of them have moved on from his mother's death. Xavier's home life troubles also cause him to wrongfully lash out at Naomi. Following numerous days of not paying attention to his father, Xavier opens a package sent to Curtis, which are a pair of new skates for Xavier, as his current skates, a gift from his mother, had begun to break down. Curtis explains that he was hurting from the death of Xavier's mother so much that he neglected Xavier and Sonya's pain and he promises to be a more attentive father. Xavier decides to make amends with Naomi as well.

During the skating competition, Xavier and his friends, with the team name the Garden Boys, are set to go last so the Sweetwater Rollers can steal their original song choice "Le Freak" by Chic, but Naps finds a suitable replacement song with "Hollywood Swinging" by Kool & the Gang. For the first time in the history of the competition, the Sweetwater Rollers end up tying for first place with another team, the Garden Boys. Believing he is the only true champion, Sweetness challenges Xavier to a one-on-one skate-off with no falls. Xavier throws out every move he knows and is set to win when he attempts a triple axel jump, inspired by a team of artistic roller skaters, but ends up falling and losing the competition. He does, however, earn the respect of Sweetness and receives applause from the audience. Xavier and Naomi share a kiss, while Junior shares one with Tori, after he had previously made fun of her for having braces but became attracted to her after she had them removed.

Cast[]

Reception[]

Roll Bounce received mixed to positive reviews from critics. As of June 2020, the film holds a 65% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 91 reviews with an average rating of 5.94/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Roll Bounce dazzles us with a classic late 1970's feel, but this coming of age film could have been more than just a spin around the roller rink."^[3]

Soundtrack[]

Roll Bounce: The Album was released on September 20, 2005 by Sanctuary Urban Records Group.^[4][5]

Overview[]

The soundtrack features artists such as Keith Sweat, Foxy, Chaka Khan, Beyoncé, Earth, Wind & Fire, Fabolous, Yo-Yo, Michelle Williams, Bill Withers, Chic, Jamiroquai, Kool & the Gang and Vaughan Mason & Crew.^[4][5]

Other songs in the film include

• "Flash Light" - Parliament
• "Emotion" - Samantha Sang
• "Can You Feel the Force?" - The Real Thing
• "Love to Love You Baby" - Donna Summer
• "I'll Keep Loving You" - Carl Douglas
• "Barracuda" - Heart
• "Rock the Boat" - The Hues Corporation
• "Baby Hold On" - Eddie Money
• "On the Beautiful Blue Danube" - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
• "Kung Fu Fighting" - Carl Douglas
• "I'm Your Boogie Man" - KC and the Sunshine Band
• "Let's Roll" - Chaka Khan
• "Easy" - Commodores
• "For All We Know" - Donny Hathaway
• "Boogie Fever" - The Sylvers
• "Pick Up the Pieces" - Average White Band
• "Fire" - Ohio Players
• "He's the Greatest Dancer" - Sister Sledge
• "Baby Come Back" - Player^[4]

Awards and nominations[]

See also[]

•  film portal

References[]

External links[]

• Roll Bounce at AllMovie
• Roll Bounce at Box Office Mojo
• Roll Bounce at IMDb
• Roll Bounce at Metacritic
• Roll Bounce at Rotten Tomatoes
• Roll Bounce at the TCM Movie Database