The Rocker Movie Review

The Rocker Movie Review
Rainn Wilson's new comedy is like a bad cover song.
by Jim Vejvoda


August 20, 2008 - The Rocker follows drummer Robert "Fish" Fishman (Rainn Wilson) who is cast out from the 1980s glam rock band Vesuvius and spends the next twenty years schlepping his way through life and embittered by his abrupt and heartbreaking firing. As Vesuvius enjoys Bon Jovi/Aerosmith-like multi-decade success, Fish toils away as a call center rep in the Midwest.

Fired from his job and dumped by his girlfriend (Jane Krakowski in a cameo), Fish finds himself living in his reluctant sister's (Jane Lynch) attic in Cleveland. His portly teenage nephew Matt (Josh Gad) plays keyboard in a band named A.D.D., along with classmates Curtis (singer-songwriter Teddy Geiger) and Amelia (Superbad's Emma Stone). In desperate need of a drummer for the school concert, Matt convinces Curtis and Amelia to give his uncle Fish a chance.

Still trapped in his gaudily-clad, arena rock days, Fish screws up just enough that he then has to try and make things right with the band. In no time, he's teaching these kids the ropes of being a rocker as they take their act on the road and gain national notoriety thanks to the Internet. But will Fish -- who soon finds himself falling for Curtis' mom (Christina Applegate) -- again suffer humiliation and rejection from his bandmates once the big time calls?



While it's an amiable enough piece of fluff, The Rocker is such a slave to formula and covers so much well-trod ground that it's like listening to a needless cover song. Sure, it's familiar enough that you kinda sorta enjoy it, but when it's over you think, "Haven't I already heard this done before and better?" The Rocker is a pastiche of feel-good genres -- equal parts rock 'n roll movie, mentor story, '80s send-up, and "follow your dream" inspirational fare -- that never quite succeeds in any one category.

We have the screw-up protagonist who needs to overcome his past/prove himself/find someplace to belong. There's the young musician in need of a mentor to inspire confidence, and when stardom is at hand to remind him of what truly matters. There's the love interest that's right in front of the oblivious character the whole time, as well as the female lead who inexplicably falls for the far less attractive social misfit male lead. Don't forget the sleazy producer-manager, or the big finale where the young heroes finally get the chance to prove something to their toughest audience: themselves.

You know exactly where the story's headed from the beginning, making the set-ups and payoffs to the jokes and the relationships too obvious. While the cast has chemistry together overall, the relationship between Wilson and Applegate is too thin and underdeveloped to care much about. They're like the sitcom couple cliché of the schlubby hubby and hot wife. Teddy Geiger effectively broods and emotes as the fledgling pop star, but the real scene stealer is Josh Gad (who nevertheless comes across as the poor man's Jonah Hill). Genre regulars Jason Sudeikis, Jane Lynch, Fred Armisen and Bradley Cooper all pop up here, while the ubiquitous Will Arnett continues to make small but showy appearances in other people's mediocre starring vehicles.

Rainn Wilson may have been striving for a big-screen breakthrough a la Jack Black in The School of Rock, but it's not to be had here. He delivers a one-note performance that's only highlighted by a few scattered moments of physical comedy. Cross Jack Black's manic schtick with Will Ferrell's penchant for cringe-inducing nudity and you have Rainn Wilson in this movie. Once again, we've seen it all done before and better.

The Rocker Movie opens up Wednesday Aug 14

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Mamma Mia Movie Review

For all of you Mamma Mia on Broadway lovers out there, this one looks like it is a winner. It's going up against Batman, but we'll see how it does...maybe the men can go see the Dark Knight, and us women can see Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia movie Review by newsblaze.com

A mega-musical that needs no introduction, having been staged in one hundred sixty cities via eight languages and seen by more than thirty million people around the world, Mamma Mia! bursts onto the big screen with perhaps more exuberant self-confidence than is prudently warranted. This cross-generational crossing of swords romp, with free love and family values facing off to a strident ABBA beat, never lets the story get in the way of its karaoke brand of flamboyant musical attitude for a minute.

Directed by Phyllida Lloyd and written by Catherine Johnson, this lavish and raucous all-girl production sets up shop on a picturesque Greek island, where adventurous and fiercely independent American single mom Donna (Meryl Streep) has been running a small hotel for the past few decades. Her only child, twenty year old Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), has been preparing for her upcoming wedding day. But Sophie's also long been secretly agonizing that she has no idea who her father is, and Donna has never been willing to engage in that particular conversation.

And when she comes across Mom's old diary that she's stashed away, Sophie gets wind of at least three potential dads that Mom was fooling around with just before her accidental entry into the world. More than anxious to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding her paternal origins and have a dad give her away on her wedding day, Sophie secretly locates and invites all three men (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard) to her nuptials, unbeknownst to her mother, who hasn't seen any of them since their youthful days of heated passions and even hotter sex.

There are plenty of buoyant antics in the mix when the trio of literally and figuratively old beaus turns up and freaks out retired free spirit and sworn celibate Donna all over again. Meryl surprisingly impresses with her accomplished vocals and physical grace during several euphoric dance numbers. And the story does have plenty of heart and genuine emotion, and could have used more breathing space to shine between far too many shrill, well, Greek choruses. In particular that old rascal himself, the former James Bond alias Pierce Brosnan, whose late in life segue into sentimental crooner on the big screen, is possibly not such a great idea.

There's a neat message buried under all the high decibel song and dance, about a dad being no big deal when you can have three. Not to mention that counter to conventional wisdom, family is more about who loves you, than whatever does or doesn't dangle between their legs. In any case, beware of movies ending in exclamation points.

Universal Pictures
Rated PG-13
2 1/2 stars

Prairie Miller is a multimedia journalist online, in print and on radio. Contact her through NewsBlaze.

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