Roll Bounce

Sometimes a film wins you over with its sheer exuberance and sweetness.

This is the real deal, and it shows up the likes of pre-Eighties Xanadu and Roller Boogie poseurs with a funky, grooving panache that's all its own.

It will remind you what it was like to be a teenager during the last few days of summer. And even though the plot is a little thin, you probably won't even notice until long after the music stops.

The end of the dismal summer movie season couldn't have been blessed with a more satisfying coda than the rollicking, funny, relentlessly cheery and genuinely touching spirit that makes Roll Bounce a captivating delight from start to finish.

A movie made in the spirit of: what the world needs now is a bit of innocent diversion.

For the most part though, the honesty of the performances keeps everything afloat when it could drift into easy sentimentality.

I enjoyed it in all its cheesiness.

For some reason, teasing people about their skin color has become a big theme of brainless black comedies like this. Plus, it unfolds like one long Pepsi ad, with dialogue extolling the cola's virtues in virtually every scene.