Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Movies

Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Best / Worst of the Decade

Wide Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Limited Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

67 3 Idiots
47 44 Inch Chest
82 Ajami
71 American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein
73 Amreeka
75 Art of the Steal, The
43 Barefoot to Timbuktu
19 Bitch Slap
49 Blood Done Sign My Name
24 Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
76 Broken Embraces
52 Celine: Through the Eyes of the World
67 Children of Invention
65 City Island
64 Cloud 9
65 Coco Before Chanel
84 Cove, The
83 Crazy Heart
21 Crazy on the Outside
51 Creation
xx Daddy Long Legs
81 Damned United, The
57 Defendor
61 Delta
68 Departures
64 District 13: Ultimatum
72 Easier with Practice
85 Education, An
61 Exploding Girl, The
70 Eyes Wide Open
24 Falling Awake
81 Fish Tank
56 For My Father
52 Formosa Betrayed
xx From Mexico with Love
43 Frozen
xx Ghost Town
77 Ghost Writer, The
69 Girl on the Train, The
73 Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The
47 Good Guy, The
78 Greenberg
35 Happy Tears
68 Harlan: In the Shadow of Jew Suess
20 Harlem Aria
xx Killing Jar, The
52 Killing Kasztner
xx Kimjongilia
41 Last New Yorker, The
76 Last Station, The
47 Little Traitor, The
51 Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, The
71 Lourdes
73 Me and Orson Welles
77 Messenger, The
80 Mid-August Lunch
57 Missing Person, The
76 Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
79 Mother
50 My Name is Khan
88 Neil Young Trunk Show
49 Nine
67 North Face
64 October Country
67 Off and Running
52 Paranoids, The
40 Phyllis and Harold
49 Pop Star on Ice
49 Private Lives of Pippa Lee, The
74 Prodigal Sons
xx Promised Lands (Re-release)
89 Prophet, A
76 Red Riding Trilogy, The
63 Runaways, The
32 Saint John of Las Vegas
83 Secret of Kells, The
69 September Issue, The
36 Serious Moonlight
57 Severe Clear
63 Shinjuku Incident, The
xx Shutterbug
77 Single Man, A
76 Still Bill
34 Stolen
xx Suicide Girls Must Die!
52 Tales from the Script
74 Terribly Happy
74 That Evening Sun
47 To Die for Tano
19 To Save a Life
63 Toe to Toe
69 Town Called Panic, A
54 Until the Light Takes Us
60 Videocracy
84 Vincere
66 Waiting for Armageddon
45 White on Rice
82 White Ribbon
xx White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights, The
43 Women in Trouble
xx Word is Out
64 Yellow Handkerchief, The
64 Young Victoria, The

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Roll Bounce

EMAILPRINTFox Searchlight Pictures

Roll Bounce reviews
59
7.5 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 27 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 6 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >

Movie Info

Genre(s): Comedy  |  Drama  |  Romance

Written by: Norman Vance Jr.

Directed by: Malcolm D. Lee

Release Date:
Theatrical: September 23, 2005
DVD: December 13, 2005

Running Time: 112 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: PG-13 for language and some crude humor

Starring Bow Wow, Chi McBride, Mike Epps, Wesley Jonathan, Meagan Good, Charles Q. Murphy, Nick Cannon, and Paul Wesley

In the late '70s when roller skating was a way of life, X (Bow Wow) and his pals ruled supreme. But when the doors of their local skating rink close, it marks the end of an era and the beginning of another that sees the boys venture into foreign territory - uptown's Sweetwater Roller Rink, complete with its over-the-top skaters and beautiful girls. Through his preparation for the showdown of the season - the Roller Jam skate off with the Sweetwater crew - X manages to find himself and also help his dad (McBride) get back on track. (Fox Searchlight)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

83

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Bow Wow plays the skate-dance hero in a way that's never too cool to hide what an avid achiever the kid is, and he and his buddies converse in a fiendishly alert middle-class trash talk that keeps Roll Bounce jumping.

Read Full Review >
75

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

The movie is a thing of honey and gloss, yet there's just enough heart in the central father/son relationship, and in the teenagers' ensemble interactions, to make it glide by.

Read Full Review >
75

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Roll Bounce, a nostalgic memory of disco roller-dancing in the late 1970s, has warm starring performances from Bow Wow and Chi McBride, who are funny, lovable and sometimes touching.

Read Full Review >
75

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Frothy, sentimental and thoroughly good-natured, Malcolm D. Lee's tale of coming-of-age at the roller disco doesn't have an original bone in its body, but it's as energetic, eager to please and endearing as a sloppy, wriggling puppy.

Read Full Review >
75

Premiere Glenn Kenny

A sweet, sunny, cinematic song of praise to simple '70s pleasures, Roll Bounce isn't any kind of life-changing picture, but it's breezy, good-hearted fun.

Read Full Review >
75

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Earns few points for originality, but scads for good-hearted exuberance.

Read Full Review >
75

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Lee pulled me into this coming-of-age story as if it were mine; there's a universal quality to his nostalgia that might satisfy anybody, whether you grew up hearing Beethoven or "Boogie Oogie Oogie."

Read Full Review >
75

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

Funny and honest.

Read Full Review >
70

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Has plenty of affectionate humor to balance some serious heart-tugging. And as for the roller-skating, it for sure provides a lot of razzle-dazzle action with lots of virtuoso terpsichorean touches.

Read Full Review >
70

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Behind the camera, Lee shows a steady hand and saves his best tricks for the big finale, which generates a lot of excitement out of the collision of disco music and some truly impressive skating.

Read Full Review >
67

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

This movie is a powerfully silly brain vacation. It's a by-the-numbers underdogs vs. bullies comedy.

Read Full Review >
67

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Despite a marketing campaign that appears bound and determined to make its subject look as grindingly dull as possible, Roll Bounce triumphs on almost all counts.

Read Full Review >
63

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole

There's the roller-disco music and skating, which isn't so much hot as a hoot.

Read Full Review >
63

USA Today Mike Clark

Roll Bounce rates a friendly nod. If it doesn't exactly kick out the jams, it does move them around a little bit.

Read Full Review >
63

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Whether today's tweens will go for such wholesomely retro entertainment is questionable, but their parents - at least the ones who once donned rainbow knee socks and too-tight Calvins - will love to love it, baby.

Read Full Review >
60

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Seriously uneven but often charming.

Read Full Review >
60

The Hollywood Reporter Sheri Linden

Doesn't depart from the inspirational coming-of-age formula. But it has got enough heart and disco-fever exuberance to connect with audiences.

Read Full Review >
60

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

Lee, who played the retro groove thang broadly in "Undercover Brother," dives so wholeheartedly and unironically into this movie about, yes, roller disco, that any faults seem minor.

Read Full Review >
58

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Apparently there's a fresh generation ready to take this at face value. That, in its own way, is refreshing.

Read Full Review >
50

Variety Justin Chang

Funky disco-era throwback never fully jells with a surprisingly intense central tale of father-son estrangement, strongly acted by Chi McBride and 18-year-old rapper-thesp Bow Wow.

Read Full Review >
50

Village Voice Laura Sinagra

Bow Wow isn't bad. But he and the dudes who fill out X's crew never quite nail the desired What's Happening!! vibe.

Read Full Review >
50

Film Threat Michael Ferraro

Nothing about this film is as cathartic as it tries to make itself be because the characters just aren't that absorbing. Instead of tugging your heart, it just spits in your eye.

Read Full Review >
50

Boston Globe Janice Page

This nostalgic licorice whip of a movie assumes there's still an audience for a straight-faced, family-friendly salute to the 1970s heyday of competitive roller disco.

Read Full Review >
50

Washington Post Teresa Wiltz

The film can't get its rhythms right, fluctuating wildly between comedy and pathos.

Read Full Review >
40

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

A drowsy comedy about a handful of kids grooving and roller-skating, Roll Bounce has heart and good vibes but little else to recommend it.

Read Full Review >
40

LA Weekly Tim Grierson

The film's only creative spark comes from Bill Butler and Kishaya Dudley's lively skate choreography, and that you can see in the trailer.

Read Full Review >
38

New York Post Kyle Smith

For most adults, and kids raised on "South Park," the painfully earnest story won't hold much interest. And the comedy is tame.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 6 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

E V gave it a0:
Nothing new here. Same old stuff geared at a mainly minority group.

danielle m gave it an8:
Enjoyable movie. Like Rachel S. said, not a waste of $.

Rachel S. gave it an8:
It was good but, it didn't have a very original plot. But its not a waste of money.

Popular on CBS sites: College Signing Day | March Madness | TV | iPhone | Cell Phones | Video Game Reviews | Free Music

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use