People are voting emotionally.

Must See Movie...

Good concept, poorly executed.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

African American males often use Music as part of a wonderful learning style and this film is a hilarious and inspiring exposition of this fact. Nick Cannon is on the beat as Devon Miles, a musical prodigy with a gift for rhythm and percussion. Orlando Jones is a revelation as Dr. Lee, a different kind of black hero who uses his mind and his teaching skill to win adventures in learning rather than relying on guns and fists. He easily and naturally reflects the kind of personality that populates many urban environments working tirelessly to raise the tone of the entire community.I also enjoyed the conflict and tension between Cannon's Devon Miles and Leonard Roberts' (of 'Heroes' fame) Sean Taylor, head of the Drum Section at the Southern University Miles has won a scholarship to attend. Once again, as in the movie 'Accepted' the creative nonconformist butts heads with the system and its representatives and learns the value of humility in cultivating natural talent. Something like 'The Natural' with drums, but minus the lightning and the thunder if you discount the emotional fireworks between the lead characters themselves.That's it in a nutshell. The final 'Drum Off' between the two competing Universities at the end of the film captured more about the Black Aesthetic than anything I have seen in a long time. I thought it was a beautiful set piece and kudos to Director Charles Stone III and his Cinematographer Shane Hurlbut. The beautiful thing about this scene was that despite it sensationalistic aspects nobody was maimed or killed to accomplish the ultimate dramatic effect. You can feel the intense passion of the African American to rise above that factor of their legacy that involves oppression and exploitation, but here that angst is discharged creatively rather than destructively.Zoe Saldana (of 'Star Trek' fame) as Laila, the romantic interest of Devon, demonstrates through their relationship the steps our main character must take to socialize his tremendous talent for the greatest benefit to all. J. Anthony Brown makes a worthy adversary as Mr. Wade to Band Leader Dr. Lee before and during the BET Competitions for best University Band in America. But what I really liked was how the story revealed the African American Community seizing Learning and Music as an appropriate choice of weapons for attaining greater freedom with an in-your-face style and panache.

First of all, Morris Brown should have won the final showdown.I say this after many years of playing in drumlines, high school, college, and eventually a shot at the Blue Knights, which I missed. It's been years since this came out, but I would still love to see a well- done sequel that pitted a drumline coached by Devon against a DCI-style line that actually had some serious precision, discipline, and power. Throwing the two styles against each other would definitely liven things up a bit, and we'd get some sweet, heart-melting DCI brass power chords to go along with it.Otherwise, the movie is formulaic but with its heart in the right place. I was happy to miss the usual black clichés in this film, in favor of seeing decent kids with sense, for once. I'm happy to see that Zoe Saldana has gone on to bigger and better things, since she was the stunningly beautiful standout of the film. Orlando Jones was also excellent... what happened to that guy? Anyway, decent film for what it was, and why it remains to be sequeled in this sequel-happy universe is beyond me. Someday, maybe...

I liked this movie. i saw it when i was a preteen. and i attend the "GREAT BETHUNE-COOKMAN UNIVERSITY" in Florida. When i saw it in theatres i had no idea that six years later, i would be going to one of those black colleges. The movie may have been unrealistic in some areas but overall it was decent. I just don't understand why sooo many people are like "omg thats not what marching band is!!" Maybe you guys need to google historically black colleges and universities. Thats what OUR marching bands are about in case u were too ignorant to figure that out. And someone said something about the dancers and what they were wearing. HELLOOOO thats typical for most HBCU bands. Just because you are ignorant to the fact that marching band is different in the HBCU schools doesn't mean u have to bash the movie. and in case u were wondering i got the best of both worlds. i grew up in a white neighborhood and i WAS in the marching band at my high school so yess its different but both are very good. As for the complaint about the "token white guy" wow...once again i state that i attend an HBCU. Their are plenty of white people, just because its a black school doesn't mean white people aren't allowed to enroll. And know we don't walk around making them feel like they're out of place which i don't think was the intention in the movie.I've asked some whites and hispanics here out of curiosity why they chose to attend an HBCU. Most replied with " i wanted to learn from a different perspective" or something of the sort.P.s. Knowledge really IS your best weapon =)

The "talented young smart-ass goes to college and learns there's more to life than being skillful or clever" theme is an old one and it's been done better many times in the past. Robert Young learned about teamwork in "Navy Blue and Gold." More recently Rob Lowe learned the lesson in "Oxford Blues." The difference between Drumline and these and other older films on the same theme is that the lead characters evoked more sympathy. Nick Cannon's Devon Miles character is a self-centered, posturing, swaggering jackass who evokes immediate dislike and though you see him grow up a little in the course of the film, you never really learn to like or respect him.Drumline also suffers from an identity crisis of its own. You're never really sure what sort of story it wants to tell. Is is a "coming of age" story, a drama, a comedy, a romance? It tries to be all of these at once and never seals the deal on any of them.Drumline could have told a good story about a New York kid learning that there's more than one way to be black in this world. There are a couple of hints of that in Devon's relationship with Laila. Her comment to Devon: "Southern sisters don't date...we have boyfriends," could have been an opening to a good subplot about differences in black culture between different parts of the US, but, as with so many other possible plots, the story touches it lightly, and then flits off to something else. An arrogant young freshman such as Devon would have had many lessons to learn while finding his way in this environment, but the film misses nearly every opportunity to show us the relationships between the characters in any depth, so the performances come off as predictable and mechanical.All the same, I've seen Drumline several times and enjoyed it for what it does very well. The presentation of the music and and the work that goes into running a big university marching band are very good. I could have done with more of both. The all-too-brief glimpses of life at a black southern university are well done. Again, I could have done with more of that as well. Drumline also had moments of humor, and some visually engaging camera work, especially in the music scenes.I like this movie. I just wish it had been better done.