Justin Bieber: Never Say Never - 3 smiles

Justin Bieber is ubiquitous: you see him in commercials, on talk shows, even on Oscar’s red carpet. Who is this kid? Well, curious people, all you need to do is see “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never,” a well-engineered bio-pic/concert film that celebrates the very real talents of this teen phenom, who went from relative obscurity in Stratford, Ontario, to global fame in less than two years. Bieber first gained attention via YouTube videos of him singing Chris Brown songs. One of these videos caught the eye of Atlanta-based entrepreneur Scott ‘Scooter’ Braun. Braun introduced him to R&B star Usher and to record producer L.A. Reid. Replete with home movies of a young Justin banging drums and strumming a guitar, director Jon Chu jumps back and forth between the account of Bieber’s rise to the countdown to his sold-out August 2010 concert at Madison Square Garden.

In scene after scene, we see the hardest-working 16-year-old in show business, going on the road, singing in big and little markets, strumming for D.J.’s until crowds of screaming girls begin to mass outside the radio stations and malls where he’s performing. As befitting this slick Bieber promo, “Never Say Never” has a parade of guests, including Usher, Boyz II Men, Sean Kingston, Jaden Smith, Ludacris, and Miley Cyrus. Justin Bieber is unquestionably gifted, and if he continues to listen to the grounded, talented folk around him, then there’s every reason to believe that he’ll turn out just fine when he grows up. 2/11/11