DRUMLINE (2002)

A superlative B movie -- funny, sexy, and rousing. It does more than capture the excitement of marching bands; it gets their clockwork beauty as well. The director, Charles Stone III, keeps the tensions flowing -- between the rivals on the field, between rap rhythm and old-school soul. Devon Miles (Nick Cannon), the new snare drummer at A&T University in Atlanta, is a hotshot who has to learn to be a team player. Drumline, in other words, is unabashedly a kind of collegiate Top Drum, but the film is exceedingly well acted, and the on-the-field scenes are photographed with such vibrance that you feel as if you're standing in the nerve center of a glittering funk machine.