TGWTG User Blogs

Ahoy-hoy friends and viewers, I once again return with Just for Laughs, where I show which movies are hil-larios. Get it? Hil-larios? Cause Larios is my last name... I don't need to explain myself to you. Anyway, the movie I look at this time is the box office bomb The Rocker, which has pulled in barely a million on opening day. Is it as bad as it sounds? Well, more or less, but let's get into this.

To start off this movie opened two days prior to my viewing, and this was the first weekend it was in theaters. Maybe the teenage gameplan has changed in the few years I've left school, but my theater was empty. My compatriots and myself were the only people watching The Rocker sans a group of five teens who came in after the movie started. In addition the film was already pushed back to the far ends of the theater where they show movies on their way out, which is a pretty big sign that no one expected anything from this film.

Now if you didn't read my Pineapple Express review I stated how I don't watch The Office. I've seen it, I've enjoyed it, but I have never seen more than a few episodes. Thus my entire comedic opinion of Dwight (Rainn Wilson) is a tad skewed. What I've seen I've liked, but he doesn't have the big appeal of comedic talents like Stiller, Black, Carrel, etc. Thus to throw him in the lead seemed like a fishy suggestion, but let's go a little further and look at the plot of the movie.

Well our movie opens 20 years in the past as Fish (Wilson/Dwight-I think more people know him as the latter) is with his band Vesuvius who have just finished a powerful performance. Excited, they talk about where they go in the future, sending Fish off to grab some beers while their manager tells the remaining bandmates (the leader of which being played by Will Arnett who is just fantastic) that they could open for Whitesnake. The Whitesnake! Only one catch, the record label wants Fish out so they can put in the owner's son. Though the band is a unity, the boys decide to ditch Fish, leaving him a broken shell of himself for the next 20 years while Vesuvius become the hair metal version of the Beatles. Except they all live. Obviously holding a grudge against his former bandmates for deserting him, Fish loses his job after a co-worker urges him to listen to their sweet new licks. Now homeless after his girlfriend dumps him, the once great drummer is forced to live with his sister.

Enter the new band with Fish's nephew Matt Gadman (Josh Gad) playing keyboard, the sarcastic edgy alternative bassist Ameila (Emma Stone), and the good looking, but troubled lead singer and guitarist Curtis Wood (Teddy Geiger). Together they form A.D.D, and they're set to play the biggest gig of their life: the high school prom. Unfortunately only two days before the event their drummer gets grounded, and coincidently enough Matt now has his uncle, a former legend-in-the-making drummer living in his attic. This starts A.D.D's rise to fame and Fish's vindication of his past betrayal by venturing into the world of rock once again.

In the previews for this movie it gave us the illusion that everyone plays a comedic part. We see Gad sneeze on the girl's face, and Stone's smarmy comeback to the "1991 wants their teenage angst back" line. Even in a movie trailer they show a few good lines from the other characters, but to be brutally honest it's only Wilson and their manger who provide laughs here. Even the great Christina Applegate (playing Curtis's mother) falls flat as this was not her best role, but mostly due to odd casting and writing. The greatest problem with The Rocker is that no one feels placed correctly. I think Wilson is pretty funny, but he feels like a guy that should stay on the sideline, and that this movie just tries to cash in on the popularity of the Dwight character who I assume is the most popular on the show besides Carrel.

The only casting call I really enjoyed was Geiger as Curtis Wood because he plays a nice straightman, and he genuinely has a nice voice, but the other calls are too strange or cheap. Maybe it's because I've never seen him in anything else, but Gad feels like a poorman's version of Jonah Hill, but with none of the humor. Or maybe it was a manner of direction as Jonah tends to knock up the ratings of movies, but overall The Rocker is a very clean movie. I believe the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles picture features more profanity, and aside from some rather very full fronted nudity of Wilson, there's not much to be upset at. There's nothing risque here aside from a small masturbation joke that can pass over your head if you don't pay attention. So I suppose this movie doesn't offend, but it doesn't really please either.

There are some funny jokes splattered here or there, but not a single joke made me laugh out loud. If a movie can't accomplish this then chances are it's not very good, and The Rocker isn't. It's pacing is terrible, and it's character development rather sporadic. I found it difficult to keep up what people perceived of each other, and eventually just gave up hope of becoming immersed in the story and settled for some nice, if not rare, laughs instead. One thing I can say in defense of the film is that most jokes are rather clever, so that's a plus, but none of them are truly memorable. If I can't leave a comedy movie with at least one quote to say to myself than I'm afraid it's not going to get a good review.

A few nice cameos help the film, and although I find the character of Gad's dad completely stupid, I enjoy Jeff Garlin so I can tolerate his off the wall rocker fan attitude. As the story continues we see the band rise to stardom, and like all good bands, split apart. An interesting point find the band catching their big break after a humorous practice video reaches Youtube, but I don't know if this was a look at our new Youtube culture, or just a plot point to get the story moving. Regardless, I like the use, but it does little to help this film.

Overall The Rocker is not a bad movie, but it's not a good one either. There are parts to laugh at, and maybe if I wasn't so constrained I might consider going over the top to like the movie more, but I didn't. Still, I'm not angry I paid for this movie. I'm much more upset that a hotdog and coke at this movie cost me $8.

That's why I wanted to hit up McDonald's first.

WHO WILL ENJOY THIS MOVIE: Almost everyone will enjoy The Rocker, but very few will be able to say they loved it. It doesn't offend, but it doesn't get too crazy either. The opening sequence of Fish chasing after his band is the highlight of the movie, but after that it's just an average film. I wouldn't recommend paying to see this unless you have nothing else to watch.

WHO WILL NOT ENJOY THIS MOVIE: Anyone looking for that blockbuster comedy. This movie will make you laugh to a point, but you'll still leave wondering if it was worth $8. Also, those fans of Dwight may not find their money well spent as the roles are quite different, and with an odd cast I feel Wilson is doomed to be a box office bomb.

In the end I don't regret seeing The Rocker, but I would never recommend it unless someone asked me to asked me what is the best movie I've seen with bare ass Office nudity. By default, I'd have to say this movie, but I want to stress this isn't a bad movie. It's just not a good movie, or a very funny movie.

Actually in turn I believe that does make this a bad movie. Sorry.

That's all from me for now. Hopefully Hamlet 2 or College will be better as those are the next two on my list to see.

Peace.