Drumline is a great movie -- but you have to see it for what it is ... not what your preconceived notions lead you to believe it might be.
This movie is all about exposing people to the world of Black College marching bands. You couldn't have a movie that was 2 hours of nothing but band performances so you HAD to wrap a formulaic story around it. "Boy meets girl/boy loses girl/boy gets girl back and learns the value of teamwork in time for the big showdown" is a formula that has worked for years -- and it works here!
Another poster remarked that the band camp scenes were unrealistic because they were too "militaristic" ... he didn't believe that (among other things) that the students would be made to run around holding their drums and so forth. Well, believe it!
I marched in one of these bands (Southern University in Louisiana) 20 years ago and back then, band camp was FAR MORE INTENSE than anything you see on the screen in this movie. YES, it is that competitive. YES, it is that grueling. YES, it is that disciplined. Black College marching band is serious business and this film gives you only a small sample of what it takes to "make the band."
The actual band performances are AWESOME and will definitely be an eye-opener to anyone who has never seen this type of thing before. More importantly, there is no sex, violence, drug use, and very little bad language (just the requisite "d*mns" and "h@lls" - nothing any more intense than prime-time television.) Equally important, the movie features strong male figures who resolve differences without resorting to pathological violence.
One last point -- the movie grossed 13+ million dollars in its opening weekend. And this was against Star Trek (18.7 M) and the Jennifer Lopez (19 M) movie. Although it finished in third place, it was shown in about 1,000 fewer theaters than those two. It had (by far) the highest "revenue per theater" for the weekend!
Do yourself a favor -- open your mind and see this movie -- you and your family will enjoy it!
This movie is all about exposing people to the world of Black College marching bands. You couldn't have a movie that was 2 hours of nothing but band performances so you HAD to wrap a formulaic story around it. "Boy meets girl/boy loses girl/boy gets girl back and learns the value of teamwork in time for the big showdown" is a formula that has worked for years -- and it works here!
Another poster remarked that the band camp scenes were unrealistic because they were too "militaristic" ... he didn't believe that (among other things) that the students would be made to run around holding their drums and so forth. Well, believe it!
I marched in one of these bands (Southern University in Louisiana) 20 years ago and back then, band camp was FAR MORE INTENSE than anything you see on the screen in this movie. YES, it is that competitive. YES, it is that grueling. YES, it is that disciplined. Black College marching band is serious business and this film gives you only a small sample of what it takes to "make the band."
The actual band performances are AWESOME and will definitely be an eye-opener to anyone who has never seen this type of thing before. More importantly, there is no sex, violence, drug use, and very little bad language (just the requisite "d*mns" and "h@lls" - nothing any more intense than prime-time television.) Equally important, the movie features strong male figures who resolve differences without resorting to pathological violence.
One last point -- the movie grossed 13+ million dollars in its opening weekend. And this was against Star Trek (18.7 M) and the Jennifer Lopez (19 M) movie. Although it finished in third place, it was shown in about 1,000 fewer theaters than those two. It had (by far) the highest "revenue per theater" for the weekend!
Do yourself a favor -- open your mind and see this movie -- you and your family will enjoy it!