Film Review: The Rocker

‘The Rocker’ stars Rainn Wilson as Robert “Fish” Fisherman, the drummer of an 80’s hair metal group, Vesuvius. His dreams of rock super-stardom are shattered when the band dump him to sign a major record deal.

20 years on, and Vesuvius have become one of the world’s most successful bands…without Fish. Life hits rock bottom when Fish’s bitterness and resentment finally push him too far. He attacks a colleague and loses his job, his girlfriend and his apartment all in one day.

With nowhere else to go, he is forced to move in with his sister and her family. When it seems that all is lost, hope arrives in the form of Fish’s chubby teenage nephew Matt. Matt’s band ADD needs a drummer and Fish steps up.

The rest of the plot is painfully predictable. Everything in this film has been done before. Fish’s brother-in-law is the only fresh character in the whole thing. Still though, I didn’t hate it.

Jack Black could easily have played the lead but thankfully, he didn’t. I’m sick of seeing the same over-the-hill rocker character played time and time again by the same actor. I was afraid it was going to be a case of ‘Rainn Wilson as Jack Black’, but thankfully, it wasn’t. Wilson actually does a pretty good job - he doesn’t over-act and stays true to the character.

One thing I love s that the characters are self-aware. It makes it more real, as real people are usually aware of the stereotype they conform to. For example, I think I fit my middle class student/struggling writer stereotype perfectly.

I also love that all the characters aren’t gorgeous and perfect, but I hate that they ruin that by making it a major issue in the film.

My main complaint with it is that it doesn’t know jack about music. Vesuvius is a poor attempt at portraying an 80’s hair metal group: real hair metal bands are much more ridiculous. The members of Vesuvius deserved to be given more depth. Worst of all is that ADD’s music is just way too pop-punk for the ending to be plausible.

Despite all its failings, the film is a good comedy. It’s not hysterical, but it is funny. It has a good mix of slapstick comedy, punch-line jokes and subtle humour.

Should you go see this film? To be honest I’m not sure if ‘The Rocker’ is worth a trip to the cinema - for me it’s just not original enough.