Movie Review: The Rocker
The Rocker
Director: Peter Cattaneo
Starring: Rainn Wilson, Christina Applegate, Teddy Geiger, Josh Gadd, Emma Stone and Jeff Carlin
Runtime: 102 min
Rating: “PG-13″ for drug and sexual references, nudity and language.
Tag: “A comedy for the rockstar in all of us”
Well, there are “summertime fun” movies and then there are the summer time flops - The Rocker certainly fits into the latter category in terms of quality. Rocker lacks in almost every area: performances, plot, dialogue, and in my opinion even entertainment.
The Rocker’s story revolves around the reemergence of drummer Robert “Fish” Fishman into the world of rock and roll through a teenage pop band. Fishman (played by The Office’s Rainn Wilson) is a bitter ex-drummer from an 80’s hair band called “Vesuvius.” Fish spends twenty years in the real world bouncing from job to job after he is kicked out of the band. After hitting rock bottom and living in his sister’s attic, Fishman is invited to be the fill-in drummer for his nephew’s band (called A.D.D.) at the high school prom. The band is led by an emotionally troubled heartthrob whose “deep” lyrics are combined with the less than mediocre musical abilities of the other two teen band members. After some initial hesitation, Fishman recovers his passion for rock stardom and leads the teenage pop band on a tour that eventually leads to some form of emotional healing for all the main characters involved. The band must undergo unity issues, and in the end, must resolve itself to stay unified by opposing a greedy recording executive and true to the spirit of rock and roll by playing music for music’s sake, and all for the adoring fans.
That is basically the story the The Rocker attempts to tell. The problem is that not only does the movie not tell its story well, but the story itself is severely weak and pointless. The whole theme of the adult who refuses to grow up and fit into society, which we have already seen this summer with Step Brothers, is one that borders on the absurd if not done well. Rocker does not handle this theme well as it lacks both the edge and performance power of Step Brothers, and it pales in comparison to its current competition as it is void of the cleverness in writing and story that you get with Tropic Thunder. Apart from the occasionally humorous physical comedy of Rainn Wilson and the amusing look at 80’s music culture, Rocker doesn’t satisfy in any way, not even as a feel good summer time fun film. All of the performances are forgettable. Almost every line felt forced. The story was full of more holes than a golf course. And the entire feel of the film could be described as lame. Bottom line, the movie just doesn’t work.
So, if you are looking for some great summer laughs, I would strongly recommend Tropic Thunder or Step Brothers. But, if you have seen those, want to blow some money, and you have nothing better to do, then I would recommend considering The Rocker.
By ~ Corey Latta - The Professor
