Rebound MPAA Rating: PG Entertainment: +3 1/2 Content: +3

When Coach Roy McCormicks (Martin Lawrence) appetite for the limelight consumes his passion for coaching, his inflated ego and hot temper cause him to lose control and get thrown out of college basketball. His only chance of returning is to keep his cool while coaching a group of middle-school misfits into a triumphant team. The infamous coach soon discovers that it takes more than flash to survive in the seventh-grade world. Coaching the Smelters Big Mac The Bully (Tara Correa-McMullen), Fuzzy Oat (Logan McElroy), One-Love Flash (Eddy Martin), Goggles Bench Warmer (Gus Hoffman), Ralph Nerves (Steven Anthony Lawrence), Wes The Sledgehammer (Steven C. Parker) and Keith The Playa (Oren Williams) may take more heart than basketball IQ. These teens want to know if hes going to stay through the second half or walk off the floor while the clocks still running.

While Martin Lawrences movies are usually a must-not-see for kids, youll want to buy them center-court tickets to Rebound. The plot may be predictable, but its message scores in the triple digits. Instead of casting older actors to portray 13-year-olds as glamorous, mini-adults, age-appropriate talent accurately and humorously reflects the tumultuous transition time between childhood and adulthood. The Smelters will remind you of your kids. The choices that the players and Coach Roy make on and off the court will encourage both tweens and teens to press on through their own awkwardness and insecurities, to be team players, and to put others first. This movie also challenges win-driven adults to let kids be kids and to put the fun and camaraderie back into youth sports. Rebound loses a point for mild violence, mild sexual innuendo and Martin Lawrences tongue-and-cheek portrayal of a dollar-driven, Bible-toting pastor.

Preview Reviewer: Suzanne Keffer
Distributor: 20th Century Fox