Exuberant music and precision choreography furnish the thrills in this thoroughly enjoyable saga of a college marching band heading for a championship showdown. Nick Cannon plays a Harlem street drummer who wins a music scholarship to a black college in Atlanta and shakes up the band with his mix of talent and cockiness; Leonard Roberts is his rival, who resents his braggadocio and lack of discipline, and Orlando Jones is the stern coach, who wants his band playing durable retro-funk instead of hip-hop. Screenwriters Tina Gordon Chism and Shawn Schepps treat the band’s petty rivalries and grueling teamwork with enough humor and sincerity to overcome the fact that they’re as old as 42nd Street, and even minor characters like the drummer’s love interest (Zoe Saldana) and the band’s token white drummer are lovingly presented. Charles Stone III directed. 105 min.