Thunderstruck is pretty much the same movie you have probably seen a thousand times on a family cable channel, only with a different set of faces and places. There is very little that is unique about this movie, save for the outlandish premise that is required to believe the plot. Although the movie will certainly draw certain ages and their sports fanatic Dads, the movie has only one major thing going for it that is positive…it is wholesome and harmless.

Thunderstruck centers on a young boy that longs to be great at basketball. He also happens to adore NBA superstar Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Taylor Gray stars as the picked on, short and uncoordinated Brian Newall. He is left as the manager of his high school team given his lack of coordination and skills, and both the team star and bully Connor, as well as his troublesome little sister Ashley refuse to let him live it down. Wayward video tapes and constant hazing cause Brian to live a life of misery. It is further complicated because Brian has a huge crush on the new girl played by Tristan Mays.

James Belushi and his son Robert star as the coach and his assistant, and they do a fairly decent job of lending some acting cred to the flick. Belushi dials back the normally insane pace of his comedic timing it seems, but he is always a quality actor.

Eventually Brian’s father takes him to an Oklahoma City game to make him feel better about his lack of skills; it backfires in a big way. Rather than cheer him up, he ends up putting his inadequacies on display for everyone. Ultimately Kevin Durant feels bad for him and gives him a signed ball. This is where the very odd writing and premise begins.

Somehow, after receiving the ball from Durant, he also inherited Durant’s basketball skills. It never explains how that happened at all. It just magically happens. You would think they would come up with some kind of explanation right? Whatever the case, Brian can suddenly do it all on the basketball court. Unfortunately, Kevin Durant can’t hit the broad side of a barn anymore. It appears that Brian got ALL of Kevin’s game. (Still don’t know how)

Naturally, Brian becomes the school hero and begins leading the team to the state championship that his coach so covets. This leads to him becoming arrogant and makes him start to ignore all the little people that used to be his only friends. You have seen all this before and will probably see it again. Even Isabel gets the cold shoulder once he becomes a basketball superstar.

Eventually, he learns all the lessons and realizes that he must earn the skills for himself. He realizes that his best friends are more important and that nobody likes a jerk with a huge ego. If this sounds like a cliché fest, it is because it is. You can imagine where the movie goes from here.

Although the movie has been done better before, there are some things that are surprisingly okay about the movie. Kevin Durant is not half bad in the movie, if a little robotic at times. The movie skips along nicely and does not get overly long. Though it is predictable, it is fairly entertaining if you are into wholesome movies.

The best part of the movie is actually the basketball scenes. All the basketball footage seems genuine and not pieced together in the editing room. That is refreshing in a movie of this type.

All in all, Thunderstruck is a movie that is simply too familiar to feel new, but comfortable enough to share with your son or daughter at the theater.