Kickin' It Old Skool

In KICKIN' IT OLD SKOOL, a 1980s-pop-culture factoid-infested comedy, Jamie Kennedy (SCREAM, SON OF THE MASK) stars as Justin Schumacher, a former break-dancing child prodigy, who wakes up 20 years after a disastrously daring dance move left him in a coma.  Justin quickly discovers that his hospital bills have put his parents (played by perpetual character actors Debra Jo Rupp and Christopher McDonald) in a financial bind, and he is determined to help them out by getting his old dancing team, the Funky Fresh Boys, together and enter a $100,000 dance contest at the local mall.  In between brushing up on his break-dancing and adapting to the technological advances and evolved fashions that surround him, Justin tries to rekindle what he had with his teenage sweetheart, Jenny (Maria Menounos), but unfortunately she is engaged to his childhood arch-nemesis, Kip (Michael Rosenbaum).  The pressure is on for Justin to either choose to make up for lost time--win Jen's heart and the dance contest--or accept adulthood and move on.

With cult favorites such as the SCREAM trilogy and THE JAMIE KENNEDY EXPERIMENT lodged firmly in their memories, fans of Kennedy will surely appreciate this goofy and slapstick-ridden film, which contains some serious undertones.  Unfortunately, the sentiment is often lost in the painfully awkward sequences of the out-of-shape Funky Fresh Boys trying to reignite the agility of their youthful glory days.  When Kennedy tries to convey Justin's bleary-eyed and constant deer-in-headlights dilemma as a recovering coma patient, at times he comes across as dopey and annoying, and undermines any talent that he possesses.  However, the film does offer some great dance performances and of course, a catchy ‘80s soundtrack. (1 hr. 48 min.)