DVD Reviews

Lemonade Mouth – DVD Review

By June L. Jun 7, 2011, 18:10 GMT

Be heard. Be strong. Be proud. It\'s time to turn up the music and have some fun with an all-new Disney original movie, starring Bridgit Mendler, and Adam Hicks, and introducing ten awesome new songs. When five ragtag freshman first meet in detention, it seems they have nothing in common. But, through music, they form an unbreakable bond and discover they have the makings of the greatest high school garage ...more

Much better than the usual film sagas in the “lets form a band” genre, this Disney Original Movie tells the story of a high school garage band that will have youngsters cheering, dancing and singing. 

With sympathetic, likeable characters, honest and strong values and a plot based on a novel by Mark Peter Hughes, Lemonade Mouth is engaging entertainment. 
 
The film opens with the band Lemonade Mouth about to perform at a major venue.  In voice over, Olivia begins the story of how five students, all strangers, came together to form the musical group.  Olivia tells us that it all started with detention.  Audiences are introduced to the main characters as each earns detention for some aspect of his or her quirky individualism. 

Detention is held in the basement room which now houses the music department of the school.  The music teacher Mrs. Reznick (Tisha Campbell-Martin) is not happy to be relegated to the basement while the sports program gets a brand new state of the art gymnasium. 

The five kids Olivia White (Bridgit Mendler), Wendell “Wen” Gifford (Adam Hicks), Stella Yamada (Hayley Kiyoko), Charlie Delgado (Blake Michael) and Mohini “Mo” Banjaree (Naomi Scott) are lost in their own worlds, without thinking about it they begin to beat a tempo, hum a tune and finally jam with music and words. 

Surprised at their skill, Mrs. Reznick compliments them on their talents.  She encourages them to form a band and enter a new talent contest called Rising Star.

Of course the kids face individual problems, Olivia is living with her grandmother because of her disrupted family, Stella feel like a misplaced person in her overachiever family, Wen’s father is seriously courting a graduate student, Mo’s father expects her to be a traditional young girl, and Charlie isn’t following in his sports star brother’s footsteps. 

Add to the home problems a variety of high school issues, familiar and yet fresh in this telling, to be overcome.  There are no “hateful” villains, just kids being kids and giving the “outsiders” a difficult time as they try to find their place.  There are mistakes made, and issues to be resolved and a wonderful fight to save the Lemonade machine that helped give the band its name. 

The message is simple, to be yourself, stay true to your beliefs, and to be the best that you can be in all that you do.  It is a good family film, one parents can enjoy with their children, as parents are never the “enemy” in the story. 

There are examples of communication problems, self-esteem issues, resistance to change and family reorganization problems that could be helpful to parents in opening a dialog with children.
     
Lemonade Mouth is presented in an extended edition DVD with a second disc digital copy.  It includes an additional music scene, and an extended ending that should please fans tremendously.   Good music, good acting, good fun!

Visit the DVD database for more information.