Standing Ovation is a musical film written and directed by Stewart Raffill. Produced by Kenilworth Film Productions, Standing Ovation had a limited theatrical release on July 16, 2010. During the promotion of Standing Ovation, the cast performed at venues across the US while traveling in a tour bus. Performances included a show before a crowd of 60,000 people at the Dallas Freedom Concert and an appearance on the main stage at Knott’s Berry Farm in California. Standing Ovation premiered at Universal CityWalk which was attended by Barbra Streisand as well as James and Josh Brolin. After the film's opening, the cast of Standing Ovation performed a concert raising $60,000 for the children of the Ranfurly Home Orphanage in The Bahamas. The film received mixed reviews.
Plot
Standing Ovation tells the story of "The 5 Ovations": five middle school friends who form a singing group to compete in a national music video contest. And much like Dorothy and her music-laden trip down the yellow brick road, the 5 Ovations encounter their own share of ups and downs, Throwing up many of the roadblocks are arch rivals The Wiggies. The group is composed of five talented sister who will do anything to sabotage the Ovations' chances of competing for the grand prize of one million dollars. Armed with nothing but talent, passion and street smarts the 5 Ovations find something more valuable at the end of their quest: that perseverance, family, and friendship -- plus a healthy dose of laughter -- are instrumental in fulfilling your dreams.
Dexter Darden as MC John/"Diverse" Male Singing Group member
Sal Dupree as Mr. Wiggs
Jeana Zettler as Zoey Wiggs
London Clark as Ziggy Wiggs
Erika Corvette as Angel Wiggs
Devon Jordan as Twiggy Wiggs
Susie Newstadter as Ms. Wiggs
Ashley Cutrona as Zita Wiggs
Paula Tramutolo as Jasmine
Mikey P. as Charity Dance Group member/'Dancing Girl' Rapper
Brian Jenkins as Charity Dance Group member
Michael Henriquez as Charity Dance Group member
Kristen Ferry as Charity Dance Group member
Shawn Devries as charity dance group member
Lexi Lukaszewski as background dancer with stunning personality
Soundtrack
The Standing Ovation soundtrack was released by Kenliworth Films on May 25 2010 on AmazonMP3. On August 3 2010, the album was released on iTunes and split into two CDs, one which features The Wiggies, and the other, featuring The 5 Ovations. The film features a cover of River Deep - Mountain High originally by Tina Turner and Phil Spector as well as an original song titled Blush by Billboard hit songwriter and record producer Roy "Royalty" Hamilton III. Award winning Composer/Producer, Edward B. Kessel, produced and wrote several of the songs on the Standing Ovation Soundtrack including Dancing Girls. ; Track List
The film was panned by mainstream critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has 6% rating based on reviews from 17 critics. On Metacritic it has a score of 22 based on 6 reviews, indicating "Generally unfavorable reviews". Joe Leydon of Variety magazine called it “at once annoyingly hyper and underwhelmingly dull.” Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said "Standing Ovation is an innovative film in the sense that every minute or so it comes up with a different way of being annoying." Gary Thompson of Philadelphia Daily News said "Standing Ovation will have its work cut out for it at the viciously competitive box office, but the film may serve as a springboard for the eager and able talent on display.” Last Airbender and Standing Ovation appear on the Worst of 2010 movie list by Ain’t It Cool News. Chris Hewitt of the St. Paul Pioneer Press said that he “had never heard of the people in Standing Ovation and I hope to never hear of any of them again.” On August 20, 2015, Crave Online declared the film the 37th Worst Movie of the Decade. Standing Ovation received mixed reviews from family-centric critics. The Dove Foundation reviewed the film and gave it their Dove Seal of Approvalfor the family audience. Dove said “ This is a comical musical about a group of young singers and dancers as they try to make their dreams come true. It’s an upbeat film geared towards the tween set.” Roger Moore in Paradise Post said “Director Stewart Raffill is an old pro who at least makes the laughs work.” Scholastic News Magazine Kids Press Corps said “Standing Ovation is a rocking and colorful movie about musical competitions, friendship, loyalty, and dreams—BIG DREAMS!“ Some critics praised the cast for their performances. Carrie Rickey of The Philadelphia Inquirer said "the cast is full of fresh-faced unknowns ready for their close-ups. Most likely to succeed is Kayla Jackson, an almond-eyed dreamer". William Bibbiani of Geekscape says "Standing Ovation is a film that received a small theatrical run in the middle of the summer. You were probably too busy watching Inception to notice. The film was written and directed by Stewart Raffill, who also helmed the wonderful 1980s sci-fi action romp The Ice Pirates, and features a cast of dozens of youngsters competing in a music video contest..." "...in theaters around the country audiences are slowly beginning to discover Standing Ovation, one of the must-see movies of the year.” Jack Fitcher of the Cape May County Herald said “The movie is rich in dance numbers set to music that will be loved by teens and pre-teens which is the target audience. Even though this reporter is about 30 years older than the targeted demographic, I got caught up in the plot and enjoyed seeing so much local talent on the screen.”
Box office
The film was a box office bomb. The film had a limited release and earned a gross of $531,806 in the United States.
Home media
The film was released on DVD format as of November 29 2010. On November 15 2011, a companion DVD Standing Ovation Dance Party: Keep Fit! was released.
