The Challengers

I hate to admit that I like this movie. It is sweet, good, clean with no bad people and a story to tell..and something for us to all learn. A great movie for kids (I am 60 by the way.) A girl's father dies and she misses him a great deal. She pretends to be a boy to join a band.

Gema Zamprogna plays Macki/Mac and does an excellent job. She seems so real and you don't feel that she is acting. All the kids in the movie seem to be very real to life. Gema was born in 1976 and the movie is listed as a 1989 TV movie. She seems younger in the movie.

It seems that Canada turns out some excellent movies. I am not sure if government support of the arts has something to do with it or if they just try harder.

Some movies make you feel good about life and about kids and this is one of them. Other movies are; "My Dog Skip", "The Mighty", "Bruno" and "ma Vie En Rose" and many others. If you have not seen "The Challengers" watch it with your kids or grand children. Feel good.

After her father dies, Mackie and her mum move to a new town. Things are going quite well and Mackie makes some new friends, including a young girl named Jenny. What Mackie really wants though is to join a certain gang, who also have there own band. The only problem is, the gang who are made up of three boys, have a rule. No girls allowed. So, Mackie comes up with a strange plan, she pretends to be a boy, in order to hang out with them. After a while though things begin to backfire.

The Challengers is a wonderful movie which is a must-see for everyone. It's one of my all time favourites. It features a wonderful cast and some lovely music. I give this brilliant movie a 10/10.

In France,This film was so popular they showed it again and again but nobody complained about it, because it's such a good film.The music is fabulous,the actors are good and the story is very interesting. Even if it was made nearly in the 90s you get a real 80s feel out of that film,The costumes like those black gloves and the blue jeans with pieces of it cut out,the music which is mainly synthesizer and even the location,everybody who was a child during that period would know what I mean. There is plenty of TV family film out there but none as good as this one. This film is a TV classic,like Mac Daniels gangs would say CHALENGEEEEEEER!!!!!!.

This is a really sweet and sad movie about grief and trying to fit into a new community and making friends.

I will say the actress looks plausibly as a boy and her "boy's voice" is pretty convincing. She does a better job disguising herself of a boy than Schuyler Fisk in the similarly themed American movie MY FRIEND JOE. (oh, sorry did I spoil that movie for you?)

The music is definitely late 1980s and the ending song is good.

The conflict Mac/Mackie finds herself in feels like a plot of a sitcom. The final solution at the end seems so obvious you do wonder why it took the whole movie to arrive at it. The boys are all of a sudden like "Hey, why don't We just let Mackie, and her friend join the band and perform their dance routine during the performance?"

The movie is honest about grief. It takes time to grieve. It is not something Mac will "get over" as if it is the cold. Mac doesn't have to pretend to be something She is not in order to fit in and make friends. Her Mom realizes that Mac and her need to grieve together and denial of grief isn't healthy.

All and all I really don't have many complaints about this movie. It is not quite a 10 because to me 10 is perfection.

I remember when I was 4 or 5, this was one of my favorite movies. I wish it was on DVD. It's been about 17 years since I have seen it, and I forget a lot about what happens, but I'll never forget the great song at the end. It's a wholesome kids movie unlike many movies these days and it tells a valuable lesson. If I remember correctly, this movie was played on the Disney Channel a lot. OUt of all the movies I saw as a kid, this one sticks out in my mind as one of the best. If you liked that show called Music for Kids, you will probably like this simply because of the great song at the end. If anyone knows where I can find this movie for purchase I'd like to know.