Five Best Movies Featuring Teens and Music

Teens and music are a winning combination, as these movies show. Whether you like singing, dancing, conducting, small bands or marching bands, there is something for every one in these movies that feature teens and music. These five movies, Broken Hill, Sister Act 2, Bandslam, Take the Lead and Drumline, featuring teens and music, have an added bonus - you can watch them with your teen age children and grandchildren without corrupting them.

Broken Hill - Conducting
This 2009 PG-rated drama stars Luke Arnold as Tommy McAlpine, a young man living on a sheep farm in the Australian Outback. His father, played by Timothy Hutton, wants his son to take over the sheep farm, and doesn't understand Tommy's obsession with composing and conducting music.

Tommy, who hears the music all around him in every day life, dreams of being accepted into the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, but has a hard time finding a band capable of showcasing his music. "If you're going to throw every thing away on a dream, at least pick something you're good at," his father tells him after one disappointing performance. Hurt, Tommy turns his attention to Kat, a lovely but wild young woman played by Alexa Vega (of Spykids fame). But after she involves him in a prank leading to arrest and community service, he turns the tables, involving her in a unique way to realize his dreams.

The relationships with Tommy's aborigine mentor, father, troubled young lady and wheelchair-bound best friend are highlights and give this charmingly quirky film nuance and depth.

Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit - Singing
Unlike a lot of sequels, this 1993 PG sequel starring Whoopi Goldberg as a nightclub singer masquerading as a nun, is far better than the original. The nuns from Sister Act are all present, and the way they, and Whoopi, play off the teens in the movie really adds good-natured charm.

The plot involves a Catholic school run by the nuns that helped Deloris, aka Whoopi, hide from her murderous boyfriend in the original Sister Act movie. The school is going under, and the nuns call in their favor by insisting that Deloris come and teach music at the school. After amusing encounters with the nuns, other teachers, and the students, Deloris decides to create a choir. The best singer with the worst attitude is forbidden by her mother to be a member. Meanwhile, Deloris enters the kids in a big singing contest that the school won frequently in the past. The ending, while predictable, is satisfying and extremely entertaining.

The teens are funny, talented and fresh. Whoopi's acerbic wit works well with their bravado to create an entertaining and uplifting movie. The very beginning of the movie, where Deloris tells her personal story by incorporating it into a Vegas act, is a bit racy, but the movie, despite a few, brief naughty bits and a girl who disobeys her mother, goes uphill quickly from there. The ending performance by the exuberant teen choir is just wonderful!

Bandslam - Forming a Small Band
Bandslam is a delightful little PG movie about a sweet but unpopular teenage boy, a high school where forming a band and competing with it is as big as football in Texas, and the relationships that develop and blossom.

Will, played by Gaelan Connell, is snatched up by popular Charlotte, played by Aly Michalka, presumably for his extreme knowledge of music. She is eager to form a band that can compete against her ex-boyfriend's band at the Bandslam competition, which is simply huge among the kids at her high school. Will goes out on a limb by assembling a ska band, featuring a variety of instruments, such as cello, trombone, keyboard and guitar. He seems to have a knack for pulling musically talented but socially awkward kids into a cohesive group.

Will is flattered by Charlotte's attention, but he also befriends a girl named Sa5m ("the 5 is silent"), a charmingly odd misfit played against type by Vanessa Hudgens. The relationships in this movie are multi-layered, and very realistic, including the relationship between Will and his mother, played by Lisa Kudrow in her usual, sweet-but-loopy fashion. It works, though. The other aspect that is so enjoyable in the movie is the music, which director Todd Graff insisted the kids had to actually be able to play and sing. The music element is very eclectic.

Bandslam is thoroughly unpredictable and equally charming. There are so many surprises, but they aren't jarring or unrealistic; the movie is funny, and the relationships are innocent.

Take the Lead - Ballroom Dancing
This 2006 PG-13 drama, set in high school, is based on the real-life program Pierre Dulaine brings to 5th grade classrooms. Pierre Dulaine, who has a cameo in Take the Lead, teaches respect, trust and civility through the medium of ballroom dancing, and this concept was transferred to the inner city high school that Antonio Banderas begins volunteering at. In the movie, Antonio Banderas, portraying Pierre, is an instructor of ballroom dancing. One evening he encounters some teens vandalizing the principal's car, and when he goes the next day to tell her about it, he ends up accepting a challenge to teach the detention students as a volunteer. Of course, he teaches them ballroom dancing, and this is so foreign that students and school staff alike rebel. But through a series of events, Pierre wins them over and the students grow and learn how to handle a rough life, while also beginning to understand that beauty and culture is not out of their grasp.

I found this to be a very entertaining movie; maybe not completely realistic, but fun, with a good message. I'm a sucker for "teacher helps students" movies anyway. Add in Antonio Banderas in ultra-smooth mode, and the fun dance scenes and Take the Lead is a winner!

Drumline - Percussion Section of Marching Band
Ok, in the interest of full disclosure, I was a percussionist in the high school band. In other words, I played drums. I still, at the age of 50, have a snare drum that I thoroughly enjoy playing, so this movie was bound to appeal to me. And it certainly does! But I think it would appeal to anyone who enjoys a good beat from a marching band (or a lively dance team).

This 2002 movie rated PG-13, features Nick Cannon as Devon Miles, a cocky but talented young man who is recruited to college for his drum skills but in trouble a lot because of his attitude. He is phenomenal and he knows it, but when it is discovered that he is actually playing by ear rather than reading music, his meteoric rise falters. How he learns to work with others and form honest friendships, woven in with the drumline and band performances, makes for an entertaining movie with a well told story. The teens work hard, as anyone who's ever been in a marching band knows, and the politics between the directors is spot on as well. The budding romance between Devon and Laila, played by Zoe Saldana, is sweet, and because of his cockiness, a bit rocky until he figures himself out.

Broken Hill, Sister Act 2, Bandslam, Take the Lead and Drumline, all rated either PG or PG-13, are not perfect, having minor vulgarities or obscenities, thematic elements, and some teens who find lying to their parents pays off for them, but overall they are entertaining movies with good music and good messages that you can feel comfortable watching with your favorite teenagers.

Sources: Personal Experience
IMDB, the Internet Movie Database