Standing Ovation (Kenilworth productions)
Amateur Hours
Standing Ovation is the kind of movie you groan your way through and then feel bad for feeling that way. The young cast is unknown but eager to please and they do try to make their characters believable. They also try to execute the musical numbers with enthusiasm and charm and in a small way they are successful. Who knows with a little more training and experience their may be a star among them.
The basic plot, and it is flimsy, is all about two singing groups who compete to win a singing contest where the prize is a million dollars. One group, the good girls group, is known as the The 5 Ovations. The other group, the mean girls group, is called The Wiggies because the father of the girls is a wig maker.
Along the way there is a subplot about a young girls determination to get back money that has been stolen from her father. The girls name is Joei (Joei DeCarlo) and she is the manager for The 5 Ovations. There is another subplot concerning a very young girl who goes by the name of Alana Wannabe (Alanna Palombo). She is determined to be a big STAR. Actually Alannas story provides the most entertainment in the film.
The film is like a fairy tale with everything happening for the best and all problems being solved before the movie ends. None of it is realistic and none of it makes much of an impact. What saves the film from being a total waste of time are the musical numbers. They do manage to inject some energy into the lackluster goings on.
The movie is rated PG for some very mild profanity.
Making this movie must have been a dream come true for the cast members, and having a dream of this type is not a bad thing. Still all families have home movies of their children performing but most of us keep them around for family viewing only. The families of these cast members decided to foist theirs on the world.
I scored Standing Ovation a seated 3 out of 10.
