American Mall

American Mall was a musical TV film released in 2008. It starred Nina Dobrev and Rob Mayes, with Autmn Reeser, Bianca Collins, Neil Haskell, David Baum. Al Sapienza and more. It was written by several writers and directed by Shawn Ku. The film produced a few singles after its initial broadcast.

The story follows the life of the employees in American Mall who got intertwined by their passion for music. As one would expect in a musical, there were a lot of song and dance numbers, some of which were really good. It also involved a love story, which I thought was a little too much. I get it, movies like these need the love story arc. But the way it developed was too much and to be honest, a little bit dragging. Good thing Nina Dobrev was still able to demand attention, and my attention was just focused on her.

This was the first movie, or anything really, I saw Nina Dobrev in. Right from the get-go I wished she'd have more movies because not only did I find her incredibly stunning, she also had a great, inviting voice. Now she's the lead of one of the more successful TV shows currently on air, The Vampire Diaries. The way she registers in front of a camera is already a sight to see, but hearing her sing was just a treat for my ears, and myself in general. I'm glad she's enjoying her success now, which I actually hoped for upon watching America Mall.

Rob Mayes was a different story. I just didn't think he matched the passion being solicited by Dobrev. He could have done a lot more to be present in the movie. He just fell flat on some of his scenes, not being able to project the appropriate emotions. He did have a great voice though and he nailed every single song he did. However, everything else just failed in my opinion, especially since he's standing next to the awesomeness that is Nina Dobrev.

The members of the supporting cast were the most entertaining, particularly Neil Haskell and David Baum. Incidentally, they were also phenomenal in all of their numbers, both singing and dancing. Bianca Collins was another one that I thought stood out. These three brought life to the movie, and made the dull moments tolerable. They were exciting and I looked forward to seeing what they would do next, and what performances they would next tackle. If they ever make a sequel (though that is highly improbable), I hope they'd stick with these three and Nina Dobrev, of course.

It didn't have the best ratings, and not everyone liked. I liked it for the most part, but even I must admit that there were some completely unnecessary parts. Some parts were really impressive, some not so much. However, I would say that I did enjoy most of the songs. I liked majority of the songs they wrote for this movie, and thought the songs actually coincided with the movie's plot.

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