Cast: Nina Dobrev, Rob Mayes, Autumn Reeser
Kinda Like: Food Court Musical
Rating: 3 Orange Juliuses out of 5
Airs: Monday, Aug. 11 at 9 ET on MuchMusic

The Deal: With High School Musical and the Jonas Brothers taking up approximately 110 per cent of all pop culture, the copycats are finally emerging, demanding their own slice of the pre-teen pie. The latest attempt is MTV's The American Mall, a made-for-TV musical that was actually written years ago but couldn't secure financing until the HSM craze exploded and networks realized the money to be made. Set entirely in a U.S. shopping centre, The American Mall makes up for its obvious lack of production values by telling a story that's a little more satisfying than either High School Musical or Camp Rock.

Ally Shepherd (Canadian actress Nina Dobrev) is a young singer who passes time working in her mother's struggling music store while she herself struggles to write her own songs. She catches the eye of Joey (Rob Mayes), the night janitor and wannabe rock star, who – aww! – helps her find the words and music to complete her songs. But while the sweet, young couple is falling in love, a scheming young woman named Madison (The O.C.'s Autumn Reeser) plots to shut down the music store to make room for her own clothing boutique. And since her dad owns the entire mall, Madison is used to getting what she wants.

Although we wouldn't venture so far to call The American Mall "edgy," it is certainly a few steps closer to the edge than either High School Musical or Camp Rock. Instead of saving the first kiss for the happy ending, Ally and Joey actually make out before the flick's halfway mark. Mayes's rugged appearance is a nice change of pace from the typically androgynous, unthreatening leading man looks of Zac Efron or Joe Jonas, and although Dobrev frequently gets a little too breathy with her singing, she and Mayes have surprisingly good chemistry. There are even a few chuckle-worthy moments, like a scene that initially appears to take place in Joey's car after a date with Ally; it turns out that they're just sitting in one of the mall's display cars.

As the movie's villain, Reeser finds the perfect balance of cheesiness and evil, although her performance is so much better than everyone else's that you feel a little sad for her. Her character's comeuppance and subsequent redemption is quite well done, too, although, again, this is mostly due to Reeser's acting skills.

Where The American Mall falters is in its soundtrack and its choreography. Although songs "Get Your Rock On" and "Survivor" are adequately catchy, the rest of the soundtrack is easily forgettable – or it would be, if not for some of the strange choreography that goes along with them. Almost every musical number features bizarre, jerky arm and leg movements that are awkward to watch and must have been even more awkward to perform. And although the viewing of any musical requires some suspension of disbelief, it's a little too much to believe that Joey and his wannabe rock star friends spend their free time performing intricate dance routines in a mall's basement.

But despite its faults, The American Mall is much better than you'd initially expect. It's a little more grown up than High School Musical and its plot makes much more sense than Camp Rock did. Without any established teen idols to bring in the 'tween demographic, The American Mall probably won't break any ratings records, but it does have at least one thing going for it that High School Musical didn't: breakdancers dressed up as hot dogs. Yes, really.

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