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Strong and Moving!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Devon Miles (Nick Cannon) is a brash young drummer with a scholarship to Atlanta A&T. He was raised by a single mom in Harlem. Dr. Lee (Orlando Jones) runs the program but he's very traditional under pressure to update his style to compete against a rival. Devon flirts with dancer Laila (Zoe Saldana) immediately. Leader of the drumline Sean Taylor (Leonard Roberts) is challenged by Devon's rebellious nature and his superior playing. It all culminates in a big BET competition.This is a pretty simple coming-of-age story against the backdrop an interesting African American subculture. Nick Cannon is great as the brash young buck and I didn't even realize that the love interest was played by Zoe Saldana until I watched it again recently. This follows a very traditional formula and delivers a very competent movie.

Anyone in an actual college marching band should be offended by this movie!Horrible acting, sound track, visuals, plot, and COMPLETELY unrealistic.If you apply to a scholarship for a music program, there will be a number of professors there to watch every move you make.they will bring out a piece of music to sightread, also they hand out different music to players of the same instrument so they have to prove they can read music.The music the bands play in the movie are totally unrealistic. The whole film is just annoying, every time I hear it on TV in a different room I put my headphones on. It is possibly the worst movie I have ever seen, a waste of two hours and a $12 movie ticket.I went with a whole bunch friends that was in band and we hated it.After the movie I wanted to reenact the scene from Family Guy where Stewie see's the new Charmed movie and travels all the way to Will Ferrals house and slaps him.

Just to give you some perspective, I was in a college marching band myself. It was in the Midwest though, so we were more "traditional" than what these guys pull off in "Drumline." As it is, my only experience watching a band like this came last year when I saw the Delaware State Marching Band perform.Anyway, onto the movie, which I mostly liked. As many reviewers have pointed out, it features an old fashioned story. Basically, you have a high school hotshot (Nick Cannon) who, while a talented drummer, is a poor team player. When he's recruited to the prestigious Atlanta A & T Band, he believes it's his chance to show his stuff with a superior school. But his cocky nature conflicts with both the values of his section leader and his band teacher, and he will have to learn that it takes more than just talent to be a part of his school's drumline.It's an old-hat Hollywood story, but I will give it credit for getting one thing right about being in a college marching band. You HAVE to be a team player. You need to follow instructions and play your correct part. So I will give the movie credit for showing that.Another thing the movie doesn't skimp on is that college marching band is very tough. While our band did not have to run up and down stairs with our instruments held high or do tons of push-ups, we did have to practice for almost 12 hours a day every day in the August heat, and then practice every day for at least 90 minutes from the September heat to the November snows. You have to treat marching band like it's a living, and this film does a good job showing that too.The acting is fine on almost all counts. I especially enjoyed Orlando Jones as the band teacher; he reminded me of a couple of band teachers I've had in the past. And the marching band performances are zippy, filled with energy, and fun to watch. I guess my only reservation is that I can't think of many people I knew in marching band who had experiences that mirrored Nick's story, so it was hard for me to completely relate to this movie. Then again, marching band is something I take very personally, so it would have been hard for a marching band story to satisfy me anyway.Basically, this is good entertainment, with a couple of good examples of what it's like to be in a college marching band thrown in. Don't be fooled by the 5.2 rating; I have no idea why the rating is so low for this movie. It should be a 6-6.5 at minimum. Considering how few movies there are that even reference marching bands, it's a good thing this movie can at least do some justice for them.

"Drumline" is quite a remarkable movie in my opinion, and not just because I am a musician & former marching band student. Not everyone will agree with me, but I think the story is well crafted, the characters are very likable, and the film maintains the audience's interest throughout. The main character is Devon Miles (Nick Cannon), a hotheaded young drummer who has received a full scholarship at Atlanta A & T University to play snare drum in the very prestigious marching band. Devon proves to be the best drummer on the line (even though he secretly cannot read music), but his overly inflated ego becomes a liability for him, particularly in his numerous confrontations with drumline section leader Sean Taylor (Leonard Roberts). Over the course of the season, Devon learns to curb his cocky attitude, and he and Sean become the best of friends as Sean helps him learn to read music.Highlights: At Devon's high school graduation, the percussion section in the concert band suddenly bursts with a funky rock beat (instigated by Devon) during the band's performance of "I Believe I Can Fly." On the opening day of marching band training at Atlanta A & T, we hear a couple of great renditions of "When the Saints Go Marching In"; a little later, the camera dollies backward across different sections of the band (whose leaders feel that THEIRS is the most important section in the band) before stopping on the drumline. Devon plays his audition piece flawlessly without looking down at the sheet music once; he then decides to add a little something of his own at the end. Bass drummer Jayson Flore (GQ) becomes furious when his roommate challenges him for his spot on the field and beats him; near the end of the season, the smartened-up Devon helps Jayson retrieve his spot. There is quite a bit of excitement in the air when the Atlanta A & T Marching Band takes the field for the first time (I certainly remember how thrilling it was for ME in college marching out onto a football field for the first time in front of thousands of spectators); tension mounts as Devon unexpectedly duets Sean's drum solo and then takes over completely! The hip-hop stylings of the Morris Brown College Marching Band contrast Atlanta A & T's "Flight of the Bumblebee." And the final drumline battle between Morris Brown and A & T at the B.E.T. Big Southern Classic is sheer cutthroat competition! "Drumline" is a wonderfully entertaining movie with flashy camera work for the numerous marching band performances. Watching the Atlanta A & T band drilling, rehearsing, and shaping up over the course of the season is quite a joy, and for a musician like myself, this film is one that will never lose its appeal. Aside from the pivotal character of Devon Miles, one other character I particularly admire is Dr. James Lee (Orlando Jones), director of the A & T Marching Band. Dr. Lee is a fine, straight-laced, hard-working director who deeply cares about the progress of his students and who continually strives for excellence. A majority of his instruction to the band has been part of my own instruction as a marching band student, particularly the concept that just ONE person's actions in the band can affect EVERYBODY.