[CAUTION: SPOILER ALERT!]
The plot, unfortunately is all too predictable and somewhat unoriginal. Its vaguely a mix of the plots of the High School Musical, Camp Rock, and Cheetah Girls movies. The movie starts out by following the stories of the five different band members. They first meet in detention and soon start singing and playing together. The music teacher hears them and encourages them to become a band and play at the Rising Star Competition-the winner of which gets a recording contract. She hopes the band can show the school that the arts and sciences matter just as much as sports. (Ms. Darbus's goal in High School Musical) Working together as a team and supporting each other (Cheetah Girls) the band soon becomes a local sensation, spreading their message of "being heard" (a lot like Stick With the Status Quo from HSM). Right before the competition, however, the band hits major road blocks in the form of injuries and fights within the band (Cheetah Girls 1,2,+3; Camp Rock 1+2). After a few hours in jail, however, they realize that friendship is stronger and get back together. When the leave the police station they are determined to perform at Rising Star, but their injuries prevent them from giving a performance at all. However, even though they loose; they know that their friendship is forever, have learned valuable life lessons, and become famous on their own. (Cheetah Girls 1+3; Camp Rock 1+2). In the end their success and determination results in their high school building a new auditorium and paying more attention to the arts and sciences. (again HMS).
The characters, however, are certainly interesting. Each as there own problem that they rely on their friends to deal with: divorce/new mom, mom dead/dad in jail, not living up to a dad's expectations/boy trouble, not living up to an older brother, and not fitting into a genius family. Although almost every DCOM involves similar problems (including HSM, Cheetah Girls, + Camp Rock), it still gives depth to the story line and allows regular kids who may be facing similar issues relate to the characters.
One thing that did surprise me was the issue of a dad in jail and a parent dating a much younger woman. These issues certainly happen in the real world, but Disney has always deemed such issues as too old for the channel. Recently, the channel has been integrating older dialogue into their shows (ex: A character on the comedy Shake It Up said he thought the word couture meant "lady parts") In most cases, I think that Disney is going a little too far; especially since Disney was always considered "safe" programming for concerned parents. In Lemonade Mouth, however, I think Disney is simply recognizing changing times and offering guidance on problems that many of its viewers face.
Finally, we come to the music. The music isn't Grammy winning, but its not that bad either. The songs are upbeat and catchy, without being HMS dance numbers. They have lyrics you can sing along and that get stuck in your head. I honestly wouldn't mind listening to them on the radio.
Overall I would give Lemonade Mouth a B+. True, it's a typical DCOM, and not incredibly original, but it's still a fun, upbeat movie to watch. Am I going to rush out and buy the DVD? No. Will I watch it when they play it on Disney Channel now and again? Sure.
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