“Rocker” hits rock bottom
I went to the theater with the intentions of seeing a fantastic film, in the hopes that I could write a positive review. Of my choices (Disaster Movie, College, The House Bunny) I went with my best bet, The Rocker. On paper, this is a very funny movie, staring Rainn Wilson, Will Arnett, Fred Armisen and Jason Sudeikis, and even a cameo by Dimitri Martin; by all rights this movie should have been hilarious. But sadly, somewhere along the way it just seemed to miss the mark.
The story centers around three high school friends who, after loosing the drummer of their band, seek the aid of a band mate’s uncle, Robert ‘Fish’ Fishman, who at one time was the drummer for the now world-famous band Vesuvius. After playing at the kid’s prom, certain turmoil arises and all seems lost for their music endeavors, however, in a due ex machina turn of events, a record producer finds the kid’s band and decides to sign them. Oddly enough, God seems to come out of the machine less than midway through the movie and, by some mystical force, grants the band success.
Plot devices are few and far between in the script of the movie. At a certain point, to show a dark and brooding emotional state, the lead singer, who is eerily similar to the Jonas brothers, begins to don a Slip Knot t-shirt. Really? Teenage angst represented by listening to Slip Knot? And then, by the next scene, he is back to wearing skinny jeans and tight button up shirts. It is nigh offensive.
However, there are moments in the film that would indicate that at least Joachim Martin, the director of photography, was trying to make a good movie. If you are willing to pay attention, a few clever shots can be found. At one point, Fish has just been kicked out of his apartment after lamenting that fame had passed him by, the following scene is a shot of Fish walking past the Rock N’ Roll hall of fame. Later on, when Fish’s nephew asks him to join their band, sitting next to the nephew is a piece of high school memorabilia with “1986” written on it, the year that Fish was first kicked out of Vesuvius.
All in all, this movie was a good effort with good ingredients and has no viable excuse for being so un-funny. Had it not been for my overly-obsessive crush on Emma Stone, I might have walked out.
Dave gave this film 2 out of 5 stars.
