YMMV / Bandslam

• Alternate Character Interpretation: Glory Dogs using "Phil's Song" at Bandslam. It's either a sneaky, underhanded move to get one over on Will or, as Charlotte theorizes, it might be an honest mistake/coincidence. It's shown that Ben genuinely does care for Charlotte and her family, and may have sung it as a tribute to Phil, not knowing I Can't Go On, I'll Go On were planning to use it as their song.
• Awesome Moments:
  • Karen calling out Charlotte for the moment below. It shows that she won't be Easily Forgiven for her little outburst, even if she regrets it. And it shows that Karen is very protective of her son.
  • After seeing Ben and the Glory Dogs sing the same song they were planning to, I Can't Go On, I'll Go On manages to whip up a kick-ass ska arrangement to "Everything I Own" in a matter of minutes.
• Awesome Music:
  • "Phil's Song", the original song was written by Charlotte for the band^note in real life, it was originally the song "Someone to Fall Back On" by Jason Robert Brown. It's beautiful to listen to, especially with Alyson Michalka's voice complementing the melody. Too bad Ben steals it at Bandslam.
  • The rendition of Bread's "Everything I Own". Vanessa Hudgens only sings once in the movie but damn does she make it memorable.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Will and Charlotte are the protagonists, yet critics agreed that Vanessa Hudgens was the most memorable cast member.
• Heartwarming Moments: The finale. While I Can't Go On, I'll Go On don't win Bandslam, footage of their performance leaks out to the internet, where they steadily gain a big following. A following that eventually includes David Bowie, who immediately wants to sign the band to an indie label. (Crowning Cameo Of Heartwarming?)
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Bandslam, where the main character being a David Bowie superfan is a main plot point, suffered from a particularly bad case of misleading advertising. A few years later, a very big fan of Bowie's would intentionally use similar misleading advertising tactics for his latest project at the time, where one of Bowie's songs acts as giant Foreshadowing for the main twist of the game.
• Iron Woobie: Will once his backstory is revealed. His father is in prison for drunkenly killing a boy in a car accident. The locals tormented Will for what his father did and that's where the nickname comes from.
• Moral Event Horizon: Ben Wheatley spitefully digs up Will's old nickname in order to ruin his reputation at school, just out of petty jealousy. Even his friends call him out for his Jerkass behavior on that one.
• She Really Can Act: Having been mostly known as "that chick from High School Musical, Vanessa Hudgens received great praise for her role.
• Tear Jerker:
  • The scene with Charlotte and Will immediately after her father's death. It's gut-wrenching to hear her slip up and call Will... well, that. In that scene, although she's out of focus, you can see Charlotte clap her hand over her mouth in the background after calling him that.
  • Karen stops Charlotte from going backstage at Bandslam to call her out on her behavior and calling Will "Dewey." It's a painful glimpse into how broken Karen really is over everything that's happened to her and her son.
  "Just give him a break. Not a lot of people have."
• Unintentional Period Piece: The film instantly looks like a late 2000s piece, featuring characters recording videos and taking pictures with digital cameras rather than smartphones. The band promotes themselves through MySpace, which was the social media site for up and coming artists, and there's no mention of social media otherwise. Karen also has a rather casual attitude towards her son's bullying - treating it as not necessarily harmless but not doing very much to stop it from happening - which shows that the film was made before attitudes towards school bullying had really changed in the media. Will also finds out Charlotte's dad died through a teacher telling him - when in the age of social media it's more likely he'd find out online.
• The Woobie: Charlotte becomes one in the last act. Her father dies of cancer and it's revealed that she's been trying to be a better person ever since he got sick - because she realized he didn't like who she was.

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