The RockerStaring Rainn Wilson
Mike and I went on a date last night and ended up watching The Rocker at the local theater in town. The movie stars Rainn Wilson (Dwight from The Office) and it's his first appearance as the lead in a movie. Mike and I didn't have high expectations after the reviews we read. Basically everyone said it was stupid and not worth watching. But I have to disagree. It wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be. Trust me, I've seen many movies that were WAY worse. Yeah, it had it's stupid moments, but for the most part I thought it was pretty funny. I even laughed out loud a few times. I especially enjoyed the facial expressions "Fish" made as he was playing the drums. There was also a line in there about John Lennon that was a little crude but for some reason made us bust up laughing. Yeah, we're immature. So here's the lowdown on the flick: In the 80's, Robert "Fish" Fishman and his band Vesuvius play at small venues, bars, and things of the like. Their agent promises to get them a huge deal opening up for a big name band, if only they agree to let drummer "Fish" go and replace him with someone else. "Fish" is booted out and moves on with his life working one crap job after another while Vesuvius ends up making it big. "Fish" spends the next 20 years being bitter and cynical about the band's success, until an opportunity falls into his lap. His nephew is in a band called A.D.D. and they just happen to lose their drummer. Convenient right? A.D.D. agrees to let "Fish" play with them for their "big gig" at the high school prom. After botching up that performance, the band decides to get rid of him. However, "Fish" persuades them to let him stay in the band if he can get them a real show. He actually comes through, but some obstacles get in the way to deter them from making it. The band members are all grounded and unable to practice together, until Fish's nephew Matt comes up with the idea to practice with eachother via webcam on their computers. Out of touch Fish doesn't realize he's on camera and practices naked. Matt's little sister uploads the video on the ever popular You Tube and the video gets millions of hits and becomes known as the "naked drummer" video. Soon after, a record producer is offering them a deal and a tour. The rest of the story is pretty predictable. Fish has a small romance, the band goes on to be successful despite the many obstacles and mishaps along the way, and Fish finally feels like he's making up for lost time. Yada yada yada. Some people have compared this film to Almost Famous or School of Rock. Except, there really isn't a moral to this story. Follow your dreams maybe? I don't know. The movie doesn't have a lot of depth or creative plot twists, but it wasn't completely boring. And there were some ideas that were a little hard to believe. Like a heavy metal "butt rock" hair band still being popular now, or some really old drummer playing with a bunch of punky, angsty teens. Wait for it to come out on DVD so you don't waste 8 bucks on something you might not like. The only thing I wasn't a big fan of was the incessant footage of Rainn Wilson's naked body. Way too much skin for my eyes, considering what Rainn Wilson's body looks like without clothes. Otherwise, not a bad film if you're in the mood for something stupidly funny that doesn't require a lot of thinking.
Mike and I went on a date last night and ended up watching The Rocker at the local theater in town. The movie stars Rainn Wilson (Dwight from The Office) and it's his first appearance as the lead in a movie. Mike and I didn't have high expectations after the reviews we read. Basically everyone said it was stupid and not worth watching. But I have to disagree. It wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be. Trust me, I've seen many movies that were WAY worse. Yeah, it had it's stupid moments, but for the most part I thought it was pretty funny. I even laughed out loud a few times. I especially enjoyed the facial expressions "Fish" made as he was playing the drums. There was also a line in there about John Lennon that was a little crude but for some reason made us bust up laughing. Yeah, we're immature. So here's the lowdown on the flick: In the 80's, Robert "Fish" Fishman and his band Vesuvius play at small venues, bars, and things of the like. Their agent promises to get them a huge deal opening up for a big name band, if only they agree to let drummer "Fish" go and replace him with someone else. "Fish" is booted out and moves on with his life working one crap job after another while Vesuvius ends up making it big. "Fish" spends the next 20 years being bitter and cynical about the band's success, until an opportunity falls into his lap. His nephew is in a band called A.D.D. and they just happen to lose their drummer. Convenient right? A.D.D. agrees to let "Fish" play with them for their "big gig" at the high school prom. After botching up that performance, the band decides to get rid of him. However, "Fish" persuades them to let him stay in the band if he can get them a real show. He actually comes through, but some obstacles get in the way to deter them from making it. The band members are all grounded and unable to practice together, until Fish's nephew Matt comes up with the idea to practice with eachother via webcam on their computers. Out of touch Fish doesn't realize he's on camera and practices naked. Matt's little sister uploads the video on the ever popular You Tube and the video gets millions of hits and becomes known as the "naked drummer" video. Soon after, a record producer is offering them a deal and a tour. The rest of the story is pretty predictable. Fish has a small romance, the band goes on to be successful despite the many obstacles and mishaps along the way, and Fish finally feels like he's making up for lost time. Yada yada yada. Some people have compared this film to Almost Famous or School of Rock. Except, there really isn't a moral to this story. Follow your dreams maybe? I don't know. The movie doesn't have a lot of depth or creative plot twists, but it wasn't completely boring. And there were some ideas that were a little hard to believe. Like a heavy metal "butt rock" hair band still being popular now, or some really old drummer playing with a bunch of punky, angsty teens. Wait for it to come out on DVD so you don't waste 8 bucks on something you might not like. The only thing I wasn't a big fan of was the incessant footage of Rainn Wilson's naked body. Way too much skin for my eyes, considering what Rainn Wilson's body looks like without clothes. Otherwise, not a bad film if you're in the mood for something stupidly funny that doesn't require a lot of thinking.
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