My Scene: Jammin' in Jamaica

Breathing life into Barbie and the rest of the gang from Mattel's My Scene doll line, this tropical-set ‘tween flick (with colorful animation and an amped-up soundtrack) features the blonde bombshell and her trendily-named homies Chelsea and Nolee, who are sick of being stuck in snowy Manhattan while their friends Madison and Delancey head to Jamaica for sun, fun, and the Beat to Beat finals band competition along with hip teen rock group Urban Desire. Fronting UD is Barbie's boyfriend River (that's right, she's fickle--former beau Ken has inexplicably been kicked to the curb and, one presumes, melted down for Tupperware), whom Barbie misses so much the girls decide to walk dogs, and sell bracelets and jackets in order to raise enough cash for a visit. Secretly showing up to surprise River and the rest of the crew (more chic names: Sutton, Hudson, Ellis), Barbie and her clique enjoy farfetched sightseeing (waterskiing nine at a time!), while struggling with soap opera-ish situations stemming from Barbie's unfounded jealousy of River and Madison's musical rapport. Neurotic and clingy, Barbie almost screws up UD's chance for a recording contract, but predictably saves the day. Packed with plenty o' goopy girl gushing, flirty behavior, and fashionable outfits (the girls personify stylishly-dressed twigs), this is silly stuff, but will certainly be appreciated by ‘tween Barbie fans. Now for the weird part: the DVD is actually packaged with a doll (something for the tech service folks to fight over!), so it's sold as a toy not as a DVD. Optional. Aud: P. (J. Williams)