A couple months ago, when I first saw the preview of “Never Say Never,” I laughed out loud.  I could hardly believe that a movie was being made about Justin Bieber.  He looked like a twelve-year old kid who just happened to have awesome hair and the heart of just about every tween girl, and suddenly he was the star of a movie about his rise to stardom. 

At this point, I was definitely NOT a Belieber.

I didn’t know much about Justin Bieber, but I assumed he was just like every other teen heart-throb – fairly talented, good-looking, famous for a few years, and then mostly forgotten.  I didn’t think there was anything too special about him, and I honestly thought he was twelve years old.

It was my best friend Laura who convinced me to go see the movie.  She started showing me videos of Justin on YouTube, and I had to admit – this kid really could sing and his dance moves weren’t too bad either.  She also informed me that, much to my surprise, he was actually sixteen.  I wasn’t exactly a Belieber yet, but I knew that I definitely wanted to see Justin’s movie.  So, a couple days later, Laura and I went to Carmike Cinemas on Stimulus Tuesday and saw “Never Say Never.”

I caught what they call the “Bieber Fever.”

The movie opens with Justin’s most famous YouTube video – his cover of Chris Brown’s hit “With You,” and it follows his fast-paced rise to fame.  Born to a teenage mom, Bieber developed a love for music early in life; the film shows home videos of a pint-sized Justin playing drums with perfect rhythm in his garage and singing on the steps of a local theater.  In 2008, a talent manager named Scooter Braun stumbled upon one of Bieber’s YouTube videos, and he quickly made contact with Justin’s mother – and the rest is history.

Dispersed throughout the movie are songs from Justin’s concerts, such as “One Less Lonely Girl,” in which he always sings to one lucky female fan in the audience who gets to join him on stage.  His faster-paced songs showed off his impressive dance skills.  The kid has moves!  He works the stage like a performer twice his age and with twice his experience. 

And then, there was the glorious hair flip.

There’s nothing like a slow-motion, 3D hair flip done by the wonderful head of golden, shiny hair that belongs to Justin Bieber to make someone catch the Bieber Fever.

Honestly, the movie portrays Justin as a down-to-earth, respectable young man who truly cares about his fans and is pretty much your average teenage boy.  He plays basketball with his friends, Twitters constantly, and even has to cancel a show due to sickness. 

So, needless to say, this movie made me a Belieber.  I don’t know how it happened exactly.  Maybe it was his sweet voice or his warm personality – or maybe it was the slow-motion hair flip.  Whatever it was, I now have a new respect for this sixteen (not twelve) year old boy and hope to see his success continue for many years to come.