Roll Bounce MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +3 Content: -1

This family comedy takes place in 1978 Chicago, when disco roller skating is in its prime. Teens in Southside Chicago, with their battered skates held together by straps and duct tape, hone their skating skills at the dilapidated Palisades Gardens rink. Xavier “X” Smith (Bow Wow) and his friends are devastated when the Palisades closes just as they are preparing for the Roller Jam Skate-off and the $500 grand prize. Across town, the upscale Sweetwater Roller Rink hosts well-to-do teens with streamlined, shiny new skates and champion skater Sweetness (Wesley Jonathan). Who will win the skate-off as the “haves” and the “have nots” face off and skate their hearts out in the competition? Disco/jam skating, while different from today’s roller-blading, is fun to watch as the teams perform amazing stunts and synchronized moves to soul music on their four-wheel skates.

X has more on his mind than the competition in light of his mother’s recent death. He, along with his sister and father, Curtis (Chi McBride), is grieving, and he sometimes erupts in anger. X lashes out at his dad by bashing the windows of his car with a baseball bat. Curtis, a jobless mechanical engineer, pretends he has a job and shows little interest in his children. X and his buddies endure humiliation when the arrogant Sweetness and his friends call them “ghetto boys” and “welfare rollers.” Ultimately the Smith family mends its differences, and they pull together with the help of Vivian (Kellita Smith), a new neighbor and single mom. The camaraderie of the Southside gang is refreshing and uplifting. Roll Bounce is a feel-good, family-friendly movie about friendship, teamwork and good sportsmanship. Unfortunately, too many crudities and obscenities bounce it out of Preview’s positive acceptability range.

Preview Reviewer: Mary Draughon
Distributor: Fox Searchlight