'Roll Bounce' to the movies
published: Saturday | November 5, 2005

From left: Bow Wow, Brandon T. Jackson, Marcus T. Paulk, Rick Gonzalez, and Khleo Thomas in a scene from 'Roll Bounce'.

IT ALL begins with Xavier Smith (Bow Wow), also known as X, a young roller wiz who, along with his crew, once ruled supreme at their South Side of Chicago rink, the Palisades Gardens. But when the doors of their favourite hangout close, it marks the end of an era and the beginning of another that sees the boys venturing into completely foreign territory: the North Side's swanky Sweetwater Roller Rink, with its sleek, well-to-do roller-boys and gorgeous girls in short-shorts.

For X and his friends, Sweetwater is a brave new world that gives way to an impossible dream: to win the rink's annual Roller Jam Skate-Off. It's more than just a chance to take home a trophy for X - it's his opportunity to fulfill the potential his mother always saw in him and prove his own self-worth. Now, as these spirited South Side skaters take on Sweetwater's greatest champ - that superfine roller god named Sweetness (Wesley Jonathan) - they're going to have to rock, roll, bounce, boogie ... and find their own true rhythm in the process.

NOW SHOWING AT PALACE AMUSEMENT CINEMAS.