REVIEW: The Rocker

The Synopsis

IMDb: The Rocker tells the story of a failed drummer who is given a second chance at fame. Robert "Fish" Fishman is the extremely dedicated and astoundingly passionate drummer for the eighties hair band Vesuvius, who is living the rock n' roll dream until he is unceremoniously kicked out of the band. Twenty years after his rock star fantasies are destroyed, just when Fish has finally given up all hope, he hears that his nephew's high school rock band A.D.D. is looking for a new drummer. They reluctantly make him the newest member of the band, giving him a chance to reclaim the rock God throne he's always thought he deserved, and taking the young band along for the ride of their lives.

Other Reviews

Main Critics:

Roger Ebert: NA
Richard Roeper: Thumb UP
Michael Phillips: 3 Stars
EW: Owen Gleiberman: C-
A. O. Scott: NA

Other Sites:

At The Movies: Two Thumbs Up
Thumbs Summary: Two Thumbs Up
Fandango: 96 Oh No, 44 No, 84 So-So, 70 Go, 65 Must Go
Rotten Tomatoes: T-Meter: 37% (Rotten), Top Critics: 39% (Rotten), RT Community: 77% (Fresh)
Metacritic: Critics: 53 out of 100, Users: 6.2 out of 10
Yahoo Movies: Critics: C+ Users: B

My Review

Source Material: An original comedy making fun of the lifestyle of rockers. This movie asks many questions one of them being: what kind of life would an original band member of the hottest band during their hay-day be like if he was replaced i.e. Pete Best and the Beatles?

Action: Common: The real action in this film was slapstick that was made to be funny. I have scene funnier slapstick. Over all the “action” wasn’t that impressive.

Acting and Dialogue: Common: The only comedies that do it for me usually are satires and black comedy especially in the acting and dialogue category. Don’t get me wrong I have scene comedic actor do awesome in non- satires and black comedies but The Rocker wasn’t one of them. With that being said I still give props to Rainn Wilson and Christina Applegate.

Direction: Common: Peter Cattaneo could maybe be part of the greats. He dose have some history at the Oscars with two films: 1990 Best Live-Action Short Dear Rosie, 1997 Best Director the Full Monty. As far as The Rocker goes, “you win some and you loose some.” This film in my opinion would be counted as lose.

Sound: Common: The sound track was decent especially if you are into classic rock n’ roll

Special and Visual FX: Common: No need for big effects in this movie. There were some but nothing to impressive.

Overall: C