This Wednesday a new comedy opened in theatres, “The
Rocker,” a mixture of sophomoric humor combined with scenes designed to be
enjoyed by the more mature public (still adolescents, though).
Rainn Wilson reveals his most Jack Black-like parts of his
acting skills and plays the movies lead character, Robert Fishman, or to cut
the long story short, he’s Fish. The protagonist is a late teenager of 41 years
old, whose immaturity will prove to be an advantage, as we will see later in the
movie.
From the first minutes of the movie, we learn that twenty
years ago Fish was a member of the hair metal band, Vesuvius. But his
colleagues traded his drummer role in the group, exchanging him with a label
record executive’s nephew and signing a contract. Fish couldn’t overcome the
violent breakup with the band, and their reeled-off successes augmented his
loathe.
Fired from his dead-end boring desk job, Fish has no
alternative but to move in the attic of his sister’s (Jane Lynch) house. Living with his judgmental sister and
her more sympathetic husband (Jeff Garlin) and their disapproving nerdy son,
Matt (Josh Gad) is no consolation. That is until one day Matt asks him for a
favor: to immediately replace the drummer of a rock band to which he belongs,
as the group is to perform at the high school prom.
Fish reluctantly joins the band, funnily titled A.D.D. There
he finds lead singer, frontman and heartthrob Curtis (played by real-life
singer Teddy Geiger), quasi-punk bassist Amelia (“Superbad’s” Emma Stone) and
of course, Matt. Their union delivers a not so impressive performance on the
big night; however, Fish promises them the star and the moon, meaning a real
club gig and they stick together.
Fish can’t resist letting go of the old habit of the golden
heavy metal days, like the pocket full of puke as a lucky charm or rehearsing
completely naked. So, we have the band rehearsing via Webcam and Fish drumming
without any cloths on, and the video of him leaks to YouTube, obviously. Even
though this stunt was meant to bring him embarrassment, “the naked drummer”
wakes up with a manager eager to rep him, (Jason Sudeikis) and a proposal from
the same record label Vesuvius signed their contract, so A.D.D.’s popularity
takes off.
On the road, the band’s ‘chaperone’ is Curtis’ single mom,
for whom Fish falls. A.D.D. will have to confront the Vesuvius (whose members
are played by Will Arnett, Fred Armisen and Bradley Cooper) and rock will win!
Speaking of which, the main flaw of the movie represents the
music A.D.D. plays. It is the same superficial, non-impressive thing we hear on
the radio. Even Geiger confessed that he had trouble getting accustomed to
singing that kind of music. Overall, “The Rocker” is entertaining,
unpredictable and funny enough to chill and cheer a summer evening.
