Parents Television Council Reviews

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Cow Belles

by Christopher Gildemeister

Release Date: September 19, 2006

TV Rating: TV-G
Starring: Alyson ("Aly") Michalka, Amanda ("A.J.") Michalka, Jack Coleman, Michael Trevino, Sheila McCarthy, Chris Gallinger

Genre: Teen drama/comedy

Recommended Age: 8+

The most recent of the Disney Channel's weekly made-for-TV movies, Cow Belles features both comedy and drama in a fish-out-of-water story of two devoted sisters who learn lessons in responsibility and helping others.

Taylor Callum (Aly Michalka) and her younger sister Courtney (A.J. Michalka) are rich, spoiled and careless teenage girls addicted to shopping, and who have condescending attitudes towards fellow teens whom they consider their social inferiors. Their father Reed (Jack Coleman) is the owner of a dairy which provides employment for many people in their town of River City. Courtney is excited about her upcoming cotillion at the town's exclusive country club, in which only the wealthiest families participate. But after the girls' carelessness almost burns down their house, Reed dismays them by deciding that the girls must stay within a budget and work at the dairy. The girls get a taste of the condescension they've dealt out to others when the hard-working dairy employees snub the rich dilettantes and laugh at the girls' mistakes.

Trouble begins when Reed's assistant at the dairy generously pays for Reed to take a lifelong dream vacation; but once Reed is gone, the assistant embezzles money from the dairy and absconds with the funds, leaving the dairy workers facing financial ruin. Exposed to the lives of average people from which she had previously been insulated, both by the dairy workers and her romantic interest with hunky farmboy Jackson (Michael Trevino), Taylor feels a responsibility to help the employees. She begs Courtney to use the money set aside for the cotillion to pay the workers' salaries, saying "If the dairy goes under they might lose their houses. Their kids won't get to go to college. Its serious stuff they're dealing with...we have some sort of a duty there." Courtney thinks that Taylor is jealously trying to ruin her party and refuses to give her the money. Taylor goes behind Courtney's back and takes the money anyway, paying the workers' salaries and causing a split between the sisters. When even that amount is not enough, Taylor also sells her beloved new car to provide additional funds.

After she is ostracized for not having enough money, Courtney realizes how shallow her former friends are.  Then another crisis looms: due to Courtney's anger at Taylor she made an error at work which ruined an entire production run. She goes to the cotillion and begs the attendees to help the dairy workers, saying ""Everybody in this room is so lucky -- and it's just an accident of birth. We have no clue what most people are up against, but it's not too late to learn. Seriously, it feels really good to help other people! It's an amazing rush to give something back."  Some of the selfish teens laugh, but when Reed returns he convinces them to help out. The dairy workers' jobs are saved, the entire community has realized how each member depends on one another, and Taylor and Courtney have learned the importance of caring for others.

Cow Belles provides an affirmation of important values in a clean and family-friendly fashion. Though there is some focus on Taylor and Courtney's romances with classmates and some banter about "hot guys," such is not done in an offensive fashion. The male teens are shown as hard-working and responsible, and all adults are treated with politeness and respect. The movie also provides a good message about the importance of hard work and viewing others respectfully. Incorporating valuable lessons about family loyalty, duty and responsibility and hard work into a story with music and humor, Cow Belles can be enjoyed by the entire family.

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