My wife and I went to see The Rocker last night. I'm a big fan of Rainn Wilson, especially in his role as Dwight, the clueless cubicle dweller in The Office. So I had high expectations going in, along the lines of Spinal Tap meets The Office. Forget it. This movie is the worst rock movie I have seen in ages. Maybe the worst rock movie ever.
I can forgive the premise of a Pete Best type story of a drummer who gets booted from his band just before their career takes off and then 20 years later takes up with some high school kids to give it another shot. And I can forgive the pop pastiche songs, which were better than I had feared. But what can't be forgiven is that there's no humor in this movie. The writing is without humor or dramatic tension. So what you're left with is the equivalent of a Disney after school special. What's worse is the movie has a great cast with SNL and 30 Rock alumni including Jason Sudeikis as the slimey record company rep, camoes by Amy Poehler, and Fred Armisen, Will Arnett and Lonny Ross who make up the fictional Vesuvius in the style of GnR. Unfortunately, the funniest people in the movie have a total of about 6 lines and not a single joke between them. All tolled there are maybe 2 decent jokes in the entire movie. One features Pete Best though it's not even clear until you see the credits.
This is a dud of a movie. Don't go see it and don't even rent it on DVD. Just avoid it. If you want a great rock comedy movie, check out Spinal Tap, Still Crazy, my favorite of the genre.
- The Rocker: Official Site, IMDB
- Amazon: Spinal Tap, Still Crazy
Sorry to hear that one sucked so bad. I can't say I'm all that surprised.
But Bill Nighy is a genius. And thank God Spinal Tap holds up so well after all these years. Don't miss the DVD commentary with "the band" doing the play-by-play!
Posted by: christine | September 25, 2008 at 11:01 AM
I wanted to see this movie, thanks for the review. I will skip this one now.
Posted by: Ovidiu - GuitarFlame.com | October 09, 2008 at 05:48 AM
Well no offence meant to the person that wrote this review, but if he cannot like this movie he obviously has no taste for good music, shame on you sir.
This movie is a must-see for those who love movies with a music-theme.
Posted by: Roger | December 22, 2008 at 12:42 AM
Roger,
everyone is entitled to their views and certainly, I've seen worse films. But I encourage you to go see Spinal Tap or Still Crazy and then decide whether the Rocker is in the same league.
While Rainn Wilson is a funny guy, the average episode of The Office is better than this turkey, rock music or not.
--Zack
Posted by: Zack Urlocker | December 23, 2008 at 05:47 PM