Rainn Wilson brings his particular brand of prissy, tightly focused outrage to the large screen in THE ROCKER, an uneven film with moments of wacky physical humor that mostly work, obvious lobs at the music industry done fairly well, and a soundtrack that is to die for. The effort may veer off the rails into some dead spots, but Wilson in his better moments and the solid supporting cast keeps it from becoming a train wreck.
The plot is about the second act of Robert “Fish” Fishman’s life. Twenty years ago he was the drummer in spandex-sporting heavy metal band called Vesuvius. He co-founded it, came up with the name, ad of the title of their seminal song. Unfortunately, the label that signed them also wanted to put the CEO’s nephew in the drummer’s seat, leaving Fish with two decades of bitterness as he watched the band go on to rock stardom while he toiled away at soul-sucking day jobs, his latest, in customer service. Fired from that job, dumped by his girlfriend, and moved in with his tough-love sister until he regroups, Fish is gifted with a chance to return to the music biz. Actually, it’s the chance to sit in with nephew Matt’s garage band, A.D.D., when they play for the prom. It doesn’t go well, but Fish can’t let go of the dream. The band has nothing to lose, and so with a little help from a You Tube video of Fish drumming au natural (don’t ask), he’s got a second shot at the big time, if he can just convince his underage bandmate’s parents to let them tour.
Wilson is great taking all manner of falls, better actualizing his character’s pent-up rage and frustration. He’s less effective living the rock-and-roll dream when A.D.D hits the road. At that point, though, the band, Curtis (Teddy Geiger), the brooding, charismatic lead singer, guitarist and songwriter with abandonment issues, Amelia (Emma Stone), the ironic bassist with embarrassment issues, and Matt (Josh Gad), the zaftig and cuddly nerd with issues period, take up the slack by filling in as the adults for the group. Plus, Geiger, in real life an up-and-coming rock star, looks the part on and off the stage, while Wilson looks great pounding the drums, even if the running joke about how sweaty his character is after a performance is never quite as funny as the script thinks it is. The script also rolls along a little too quickly hitting such usual plot points as Curtis going on an ego trip, and Fish having a fit over his former band. It’s better in the subtle way it handles Amelia and Curtis’ attraction for one another with a few soulful glances that speak volumes, and it scores big with Jane Lynch and Jeff Garlin as Fish’s prickly sister and her husband, who lives vicariously through Fish’s refusal to grow up. The slimier elements of the music business are handled with smarmy aplomb by Jason Sudeikis, and Christina Applegate does good work as Curtis’ single mom, livening up some spiffy dialogue with a tart delivery before she and Wilson step into the unsure and oddly written segment of the script dealing with their relationship as more than bandmember and bandmember’s mom.
THE ROCKER may not rock your world, but it’s a sweet little fable that doesn’t trouble itself with reality. Then again rock-and-roll isn’t about reality. It’s about the dream.
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