Love Don't Cost a Thing
Review by George O. Singleton
for Reel Movie Critic
HHH½
Cast
Nick Cannon	Alvin
Christina Milian	Paris
Steve Harvey	Alvin's Father

Alvin (Nick Cannon) is a high school nerd with an excellent chance of winning a major science fair, until he decides to divert the money needed for a camshaft (there is a pun in there somewhere) to buy the popularity he has dreamed of but has never been close to.

Paris (Christina Milian) is the most popular girl in school. She defines the in-crowd, while Nick and his life long friends are afraid to walk down the hall if the pretty girls and the male sports jocks are anywhere near. As one of Nicks' friends points out, "it's really not a problem because we are invisible to those that matter."

The usual date for Paris is either the guy with the most letters on his jacket or is a rookie in the NBA, driving a stretch Hummer with 3 TV's. Her perfect life is on cruise control until she has an accident in her mother's Cadillac SUV. Paris has a major dilemma, she was not to drive this car and mom will be more than a little irritated if she returns home to find her baby damaged ¾ and I don't mean Paris. She does not have enough money to fix the car and the body shop where Alvin has ordered his camshaft is so backed up with work that even if she had the money to repair it, they could not have it done before her mother returns.

Being the bright guy that he is, Alvin makes an offer that Paris reluctantly accepts ¾ be "my girl" for two weeks, and I'll fix your car. Like your standard romantic comedy, it's no surprise that by the time the credits roll, oil and water have found a way to mix.

This film is not nearly as hard-edged as "Thirteen," a film released earlier this year, which was a superior effort to get a message to parents and young teens about peer pressure and how to deal with it. A key difference is that this is a PG-13 rated picture, based upon how numerous young folks think and act, while "Thirteen" is grounded in a true story, and is rated R.

Even with the predictably and silliness of much of the plot, we liked the film because of its message to teens and parents. It preaches, mildly, in the mode of "walk softly but carry a big stick." Alvin's father, played by Steve Harvey, is a devoted dad and husband, who has never grown up. His daughter is named "Aretha," he likes to sing Al Green songs, and his idea of advice to his son about dating is to give him a shoe box full of condoms, each with a varying characteristic.

Parents do need to teach their children sex education, regardless of what the policy is in school. The kids are going to learn something, so the question becomes who should they learn it from, perhaps from the school, but for sure not from other uninformed teens. There are many issues here, such as moral values, determining one's self image, sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies that instantly change a teen's life forever, regardless of being pro life or pro choice, and more. It's kind of tough being a teen right now…lots of choices.

There is nothing wrong with not having a car in high school, or being ashamed to get good grades, or not to be dressed in the latest top name, hip hop urban gear, if you are a boy. And the pressure is on to be a Victoria's Secret model in waiting if you are a girl. Proper judgment in our young adults determines their future. A young woman has three choices to make regarding her sexual activity. She can remain a virgin, which would be the choice of most parents. She can become sexually active but "responsible," as to who, why, when, where and how. Or, as Paris refers to Olivia (Reagan Gomez-Preston), be a teen that has "given more rides than a Greyhound bus."

Guiding a teen through high school can be, at best, a crapshoot. Much of that journey rides on how the youngster reacts to their peer group and much is up to the parents. At my high school reunions, I seem to be remembered most for the parties my parents hosted for me at our home. They gave all of us some rope to play with while maintaining a measure of control. As a parent you can't keep your child from hitting bumps in the road anymore than you can for yourself. To the extent they involve you in their lives as they mature, those bumps may not be so large that they run off the road and crash.