S Club Seeing Double

For those who helped Never Had A Dream Come True to the top of the charts, this will satisfy those parts TV could not reach. For those who queued in the rain for a Jethro Tull concert 20 years ago, forget it.

Pop star movies have changed since A Hard Day's Night. Familiarity has taken the place of imagination. The Beatles liked to be thought of as eccentric nonconformists. S Club want to be themselves. Where's the magic?

The plot is less yawn-worthy than a mishaps-on-tour runaround. The band are whinging to Alistair (Joseph Adams), their manager, at the end of a world tour, that they need time off "to hang". Alistair talks promotion of the new album, more press junkets, "eyes and teeth". They know what that means and groan.

Later, in their Barcelona hotel, when no one is looking, a razor thin lady in black PVC knocks Alistair senseless and heavy men in suits drag him away. Next morning the band awake to a new kind of freedom. Trouble is, after years of being spoon fed, organised and chaperoned, this all singing/all dancing entertainment machine has lost the ability to do ordinary things, such as pay for a meal.

Hopelessness in the face of choice could have been milked for gags. Instead, there is a terrific jail routine, complete with convict chorus and neat footwork. When the band put their minds to it, or their choreographers do, they can certainly deliver a manufactured 21st century package.

It turns out that a spooky scientist (David Gant), who goes to the same tailor as Count Dracula, has been cloning the likes of Madonna, Michael Jackson and Elton John for years. S Club is his latest, currently playing in California to packed houses. The real S Club fly to Los Angeles - without money? - to confront their robotic doubles.

In the end it comes down to personality. How do they rate? Bradley's a lad, Rachel's sexy, Hannah's fun, Jo's bossy, Tina's there and Jon is nice. Unless you are a fan, they seem to be exactly what is on the tin, a pop group that was chosen by audition and trained as dancers. The fact that they are still speaking to each other after four years is a tribute to their character.