Movie is based on real events

The band is fronted by two brothers, 8 and 11.
NEW YORK (AP) -- If you should come within earshot of a TV being commandeered by youngsters, prepare yourself: Certain pop-music memes could soon be lodging in your brain.
Hear bubblegum riffs like "Cra-ya-ya-zee car." Like, "Chatter, chatter, chatter, chatterbox!" Like, "If that's not love, then what is? If that's not music, then what is?"
If that's not infectious, then what is? Nickelodeon's "The Naked Brothers Band Movie," premiering Saturday at 8 p.m. EST, dispenses comedy laced with all-too-catchy rock'n'roll. Then on Feb. 3 it will spin off a half-hour series. Consider yourself warned. (Thanks to Nickelodeon's promotional assault, it's a cinch all kids are on high alert.)
"The Naked Brothers Band Movie" is a parody of tuneful tweeners poised to conquer the world. In its fancifully conceived, child-centric version of New York, kids enjoy equal footing with adults -- and young and old agree the Naked Brothers Band is the greatest (even Uma Thurman, in one of the film's many cameos). The mockumentary-style action blends "This is Spinal Tap" with "Our Gang," all by way of "A Hard Day's Night."
And one more thing: It's based on an element of truth.
The Naked Brothers Band -- which, by the way, is fully clad -- is fronted by 11-year-old keyboardist-lead singer Nat Wolff, with his 8-year-old brother, Alex, on drums. Nat really did form a band back in preschool. And he really writes the songs.
Now, by virtue of his and Alex's wherewithal (and that of their mom, actress-turned-filmmaker Polly Draper), they are starring as themselves on TV.
No mom; just a dad
Even though this is a family affair, Draper (best known from the drama "thirtysomething" long before Nat and Alex were born) isn't playing their mom. She's too busy behind the camera with writing, producing and directing chores. On-screen, Nat and Alex are motherless.
But their dad, Michael Wolff (an acclaimed jazz musician who led the house band of the late-night "Arsenio Hall Show"), plays the dad -- albeit clownishly larger than life.
Meanwhile, most of the Naked band mates use their real names, including David (Levi) and Thomas (Batuello), who were members with Nat and Alex way back when.
A personal note on the show's alignment with reality: Thomas, who plays cello, is a friend of my son's from their toddler days. Thanks to this fortuitous connection, I was present for an early performance by the group at the Manhattan flat where Nat and Alex live -- video from which is seen as "archival footage" in "The Naked Brothers Band Movie."
The movie, whose filming consumed most of summer vacation two years ago, begins with a grievance.
"It was a big pain in the patootie making it!" declares Alex, then 6. "The cameras were always following us around, and we never got any privacy for the whole summer!"
"Big pain"? Sure, that's what the script said. But the kids had a blast, which is obvious on the screen.
Soda-holic rehab
In the best "Behind the Music" tradition, the film chronicles the band's origin and evolution. Its struggles on the road and in the studio. The show-biz excesses: Alex (who serves as a rascally, do-rag-sporting counterpoint to the sensitive, soulful Nat) battles substance abuse in the form of lemon-lime soda before successfully completing soda-holic rehab.
And there's a feud that threatens to tear the group apart: Nat is sweet on a girl named Rosalina. Other members argue that boys rule and girls drool.
By the film's conclusion, the band is reunited -- with Rosalina a new recruit, breaking the Naked Brothers' gender barrier.
But hold on: How did that name come about? Alex explains, "We were naked at the time" (cut to a home video of him and Nat as moppets clowning in their boxers), and Nat points out, "We're brothers!"
Throughout the film, the band must deal with adoration unmatched since the age of Beatlemania. And not just from kid fans.
Uma Thurman wants Nat's autograph. Julianne Moore wants Nat to help her understand the deeper meaning of his song, "Crazy Car."
Draper even pops up with "thirtysomething" co-stars Peter Horton, Melanie Mayron, Mel Harris, Patricia Wettig and Timothy Busfield as well as Ken Olin, who reflects how "over the years, we'd all drifted apart." But that was before their mutual love for the band "just brought us all together."
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