Roll Bounce

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

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

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."

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

Funny and honest.

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.

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.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

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

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.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole

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

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.

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.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Seriously uneven but often charming.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Washington Post Teresa Wiltz

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

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.

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.

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.