The Rocker

Blu-Ray Review: ‘The Rocker’ Hits a Few False Notes

BrianTT — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:21:35 -0700

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Rainn Wilson made the jump from supporting player on NBC’s “The Office” to leading comedy star in the so-so “The Rocker,” a film with a few inspired moments, some great cameos, and talented young actors, but the timing is a bit off with this routine. The Blu-Ray release goes a long way in redeeming the set list, but the entire show is still a little mediocre.

“The Rocker” is a frustrating comedy. Everything that works - Wilson’s fearless performance, great appearances from comedians like Jane Lynch, Will Arnett, Jeff Garlin, and Jason Sudeikis, likable young stars - is usually followed by something that just doesn’t click. There are some jokes in “The Rocker” that hit the floor with the thud of a bass drum. It may make a satisfying rental for some, but with the pedigree of the people involved, this super-band should have been better.

“A.D.D.” band members Amelia (Emma Stone, left), Curtis (Teddy Geiger) and Matt (Josh Gad) behold the splendor that is Fish.
Photo credit: George Kraychyk

Wilson plays Robert “Fish” Fishman, a drummer for the eighties hair band Vesuvius (which also features Will Arnett, Fred Armisen, and Bradley Cooper). The movie opens with a blistering set by the band, after which an exec offers them a breakthrough deal, but they have to axe Fish.

Photo credit: Fox

Twenty years later, in a world where grunge never killed hair metal, Vesuvius is the biggest band on the planet and Fish is working a desk job that he hates. He loses his job and is forced to move in with his sister (Jane Lynch), brother-in-law (Jeff Garlin), and musically-inclined nephew Matt (Josh Gad).

The young fellow happens to be in a band called A.D.D. with his friends (Emma Stone & Teddy Geiger), who reluctantly recruit Fish after their drummer gets grounded just before a prom gig.

Being back in the spotlight makes Fish think that he can turn A.D.D. into a mega-success and he tries to take the band on the road and reclaim the rock-god throne that he’s envied for twenty years. Of course, one of his band mate’s mother happens to be the super-cute Christina Applegate to give the movie a third act love story.

A little bit of “School of Rock,” a little bit of “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” a few references to other man-child movies, and too much physical humor derail the awkward and often derivative script. But the cast is great. Wilson doesn’t hold back and you can’t do much better than Lynch, Garlin, Arnett, Armisen, Cooper, and Sudeikis in your back-up band. Even the young cast is excellent in roles much deeper than teen stars usually play.

The script may not work, but, unlike a lot of awful comedies, the cast make it out completely unscathed. If anything, “The Rocker” is more proof that even the most likable cast does not make a complete comedy. Just as in music, the lyrics matter as much as the person who’s singing them.

Newly-restored rock god Fish (Rainn Wilson) and band chaperon Kim (Christina Applegate) enjoy a rare moment of quiet.
Photo credit: George Kraychyk

The Fox Blu-Ray presentation for “The Rocker” is a great one with a nearly perfect 1080p transfer in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The colors are not too vibrant but the picture is always clear and the sound matches it with a great 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio.

The last few Fox Blu-Ray releases have featured excellent technical presentations. They struggled a bit at the beginning with Blu-Ray, but appear to have turned it around. In general, Fox Blu-Ray still doesn’t stand up to the best of Warner Brothers, DreamWorks, or Sony when it comes to video and audio, but they’re getting closer.

And they have put together a completely comprehensive collection of special features for “The Rocker,” including two commentary tracks - one by director Peter Cattaneo and Wilson and one by Gad, Geiger, Stone, and Sudeikis - “MTV Panel,” internet podcasts, deleted scenes, a gag reel, Vesuvius gags, Matt gags, Pete Best interview, Vesuvius public service announcements, “Rainn Wilson Office Rocker,” “Behind the Band,” “Rock Tales,” “The Music,” “Rock Band with Fish Fishman,” and a music video for “I’m Not Bitter”. The film also comes with a digital copy so you can rock out on your portable device. Good luck with that.

Clearly, the Blu-Ray release for “The Rocker” is excellent. I wish I could say the same for the movie itself.

‘The Rocker’ is released by Fox Home Video and stars Rainn Wilson, Josh Gad, Emma Stone, Christina Applegate, Jeff Garlin, Jane Lynch, Teddy Geiger, Jason Sudeikis, Will Arnett, Fred Armisen, and Bradley Cooper. It was written by Maya Forbes & Wally Wolodarsky and directed by Peter Cattaneo. It was released on January 27th, 2009.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Interview: Rainn Wilson Lays Down Tracks Beyond ‘The Office’ in New Film ‘The Rocker’

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:10:08 -0600

CHICAGO – Rainn Wilson is more than just the popular NBC character Dwight Schrute. The bespectacled antagonist of “The Office” is nowhere in evidence this time around as Wilson sat down with HollywoodChicago.com to talk about his new film “The Rocker”.

The theater and TV veteran expressed a thoughtfulness and gratitude about his journey to this first feature-film lead role and spoke more about the craft of acting than the virtue of his celebrity.

Rainn Wilson in Chicago (left) for “The Rocker” with HollywoodChicago.com film critic Patrick McDonald (right).
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

Rainn Wilson is “The Rocker” (also known as Robert “Fish” Fishman) who joins his nephew’s band “A.D.D.” and finally reclaims the rock-god throne he has always thought he deserved in the film “The Rocker”.
Photo credit: George Kraychyk

“The Rocker” is a comedy about Richard “Fish” Fishman (Wilson): a drummer from the 1980s whose hair metal band “Vesuvius” is about to hit the big time.

Unfortunately, he isn’t going with them. The band decides to dump Fish right before the breakthrough. Distraught, Fish goes on a downward spiral for a few decades and ends up living in his sister’s attic in Cleveland, Ohio.

Rainn Wilson was able to play a drummer because he had a music background.

“I had a little bit of experience when I went to New Trier Township High School (in the Chicago suburb of Winnetka, Ill.). There was a short-lived band I was in called Collective Moss,” he said. “We only played two gigs. We were the world’s worst cover band. We were just awful.”

Rainn Wilson in Chicago for “The Rocker” on June 10, 2008.
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

Rating: 2.0/5.0

Wilson added: “But I could read music and that’s how I learned the tracks for ‘The Rocker’. I would tape the ‘score’ on the drum set and learn to play that way. This made it easier for me to pick up the rhythm.”

When Fishman’s nephew (Josh Gad) finds that his fledgling band “A.D.D.” is in need of a drummer, he turns to his now-older uncle to sit in. In a calculated turn of events, this new band (with old-man Fish on drums) becomes an up-and-coming sensation.

They go on the road with their parents (including Christina Applegate) and a new manager (Jason Sudeikis) in tow.

“A lot of dialogue was improvised,” Wilson said. “Jason Sudeikus would say some of the most wildly inappropriate stuff that would come out in a stream of consciousness. Josh Gad had the strangest wiring of his brain. You never knew what he was going to do.”

Christina Applegate is Kim: the mother of and chaperone to a young rock musician in “The Rocker”.
Photo credit: George Kraychyk

Rainn Wilson in “The Rocker”.
Photo credit: George Kraychyk

He added: “It was nice to see everyone doing their thing and being allowed to do their thing. Everyone was allowed to be funny.”

Strangely enough, it is Fish who’s the wild and inappropriate child on the tour. His antics almost derail the entire band. There is one last concert chance, though, at the Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame against his old 1980s band mates.

How did the normally lower-key characters that Rainn Wilson plays get morphed into a wild-man rock star?

“It was studying the drums. There is something about a drummer,” he said. “They’re not cerebral. I have a tendency in my life to be more cerebral and a bit reserved. But he’s a big puppy dog, a physical person and a ‘talk first, think later’ type with his heart on his sleeve. It was lot of fun to plunge into that.”

“There was no specific drummer who I based my character on,” he added. “It was a compilation of watching the heavy-metal drummers on YouTube. I recommend that to anyone. Start researching hair-metal drummers.”

Wilson also talked about the inevitability of comparisons between his essential Dwight Schrute character on “The Office” and drummer Fish in “The Rocker”.

“There are similarities between Dwight Schrute and Fish and there are differences,” he reflected. “But there has to be enough similarities so ‘The Office’ fans will line up when ‘The Rocker’ opens to see the guy who plays Dwight play a heavy-metal rocker dude. It was just a blast to enter into that whole genre of music.”

RELATED IMAGE GALLERY
View our full, high-resolution “The Rocker” image gallery.

RELATED READING
More film reviews from critic Patrick McDonald.

Finally, Wilson discusses his experience in working at “The Office”.

“I’ve been very fortunate because Dwight Schrute comes from the writers and creator Greg Daniels. They aren’t interested in doing things the normal way things have been done,” Wilson said. “They want to find different facets and different sides to all the characters.”

“It works well,” he added. “When you see Dwight’s vulnerabilities, people respond to it and are more likely to tune in. Then we get to make more episodes.”

Note: In a unique viral marketing promotion, Rainn Wilson has “kidnapped” “The Office” mate Jenna Fischer and will not free her until “everyone” sees “The Rocker”. Visit FreeJennaNow.com to play along.

“The Rocker,” which features Rainn Wilson, Josh Gad, Christina Applegate, Emma Stone, Jason Sudeikis, Teddy Geiger, Jeff Garlin, Jane Lynch, Fred Armisen, Will Arnett and Jane Krakowski, opens on Aug. 20, 2008 everywhere.

By PATRICK McDONALD
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

Spike Lee to Direct ‘Time Traveler,’ AFI Releases ‘10 Top 10’ List, New J.J. Abrams Film

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:58:54 -0600

CHICAGO – Spike Lee has announced that “Time Traveler” will be his next project. “Time Traveler” will be an adaptation of Ronald Mallett’s memoir. Mallett was one of the first African-Americans to earn a doctorate in theoretical physics.

A labor of love for Lee, he purchased the rights to the novel and will co-write and direct the film. “Time Traveler” is being produced through his Forty Acres & A Mule Filmworks production company. “Miracle at St. Anna,” which is also an adaptation of a novel, was directed by Lee and will be released by Touchstone this fall.

J.J. Abrams also will be producing an adaptation soon. Paramount has purchased the New York Times article “Mystery on Fifth Street” that Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions will produce.

Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky have been hired to write the adaptation. Forbes wrote for “The Larry Sanders Show” and Woladarsky wrote for “The Simpsons”. Most recently, they collaborated on the Rainn Wilson comedy “The Rocker”.

The story, which was written by Penelope Green, ran as a feature in the New York Times last week. It talks about an upper east side luxury apartment that had been renovated to include hidden compartments, puzzles, poems and codes for pre-teen children.

Abrams is currently at work directing a new “Star Trek” film and creating the new series “Fringe” on FOX this fall.

The American Film Institute (AFI) has just unveiled its “10 Top 10” list, which highlights the best films in each genre. Here are the AFI’s “10 Top 10” honorees.

The American Film Institute’s “10 Top 10” films in 2008.
Photo credits: American Film Institute

Animation

1) “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” 1937
2) “Pinocchio,” 1940
3) “Bambi,” 1942
4) “The Lion King,” 1994
5) “Fantasia,” 1940
6) “Toy Story,” 1995
7) “Beauty and the Beast,” 1991
8) “Shrek,” 2001
9) “Cinderella,” 1950
10) “Finding Nemo,” 2003

Fantasy

1) “The Wizard of Oz,” 1939
2) “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” 2001
3) “It’s a Wonderful Life,” 1946
4) “King Kong,” 1933
5) “Miracle on 34th Street,” 1947
6) “Field of Dreams,” 1989
7) “Harvey,” 1950
8) “Groundhog Day,” 1993
9) “The Thief of Bagdad,” 1924
10) “Big,” 1988

Gangster

1) “The Godfather,” 1972
2) “Goodfellas,” 1990
3) “The Godfather: Part II,” 1974
4) “White Heat,” 1949
5) “Bonnie and Clyde,” 1967
6) “Scarface: The Shame of a Nation,” 1932
7) “Pulp Fiction,” 1994
8) “The Public Enemy,” 1931
9) “Little Caesar,” 1930
10) “Scarface,” 1983

Science Fiction

1) “2001: A Space Odyssey,” 1968
2) “Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope” 1977
3) “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” 1982
4) “A Clockwork Orange,” 1971
5) “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” 1951
6) “Blade Runner,” 1982
7) “Alien,” 1979
8) “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” 1991
9) “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” 1956
10) “Back to the Future,” 1985

Western

1) “The Searchers,” 1956
2) “High Noon,” 1952
3) “Shane,” 1953
4) “Unforgiven,” 1992
5) “Red River,” 1948
6) “The Wild Bunch,” 1969
7) “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” 1969
8) “McCabe & Mrs. Miller,” 1971
9) “Stagecoach,” 1939
10) “Cat Ballou,” 1965

Sports

1) “Raging Bull,” 1980
2) “Rocky,” 1976
3) “The Pride of the Yankees,” 1942
4) “Hoosiers,” 1986
5) “Bull Durham,” 1988
6) “The Hustler,” 1961
7) “Caddyshack,” 1980
8) “Breaking Away,” 1979
9) “National Velvet,” 1944
10) “Jerry Maguire,” 1996

Mystery

1) “Vertigo,” 1958
2) “Chinatown,” 1974
3) “Rear Window,” 1954
4) “Laura,” 1944
5) “The Third Man,” 1949
6) “The Maltese Falcon,” 1941
7) “North By Northwest,” 1959
8) “Blue Velvet,” 1986
9) “Dial M for Murder,” 1954
10) “The Usual Suspects,” 1995

Romantic Comedy

1) “City Lights,” 1931
2) “Annie Hall,” 1977
3) “It Happened One Night,” 1934
4) “Roman Holiday,” 1953
5) “The Philadelphia Story,” 1940
6) “When Harry Met Sally…,” 1989
7) “Adam’s Rib,” 1949
8) “Moonstruck,” 1987
9) “Harold and Maude,” 1971
10) “Sleepless in Seattle,” 1993

Courtroom Drama

1) “To Kill a Mockingbird,” 1962
2) “12 Angry Men,” 1957
3) “Kramer vs. Kramer,” 1979
4) “The Verdict,” 1982
5) “A Few Good Men,” 1992
6) “Witness for the Prosecution,” 1957
7) “Anatomy of a Murder,” 1959
8) “In Cold Blood,” 1967
9) “A Cry in the Dark,” 1988
10) “Judgment at Nuremberg,” 1961

Epic

1) “Lawrence of Arabia,” 1962
2) “Ben-Hur,” 1959
3) “Schindler’s List,” 1993
4) “Gone with the Wind,” 1939
5) “Spartacus,” 1960
6) “Titanic,” 1997
7) “All Quiet on the Western Front,” 1930
8) “Saving Private Ryan,” 1998
9) “Red,” 1981
10) “The Ten Commandments,” 1956

By DUSTIN LEVELL
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
dustin@hollywoodchicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com Podcast, Episode 1: Summer Blockbusters

HollywoodChicago.com — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:37:53 -0600

CHICAGO – In the inaugural HollywoodChicago.com podcast, our staffers debate 2008’s summer blockbuster films. Staffers Adam Fendelman, Dustin Levell, Patrick McDonald and Lauren Fendelman all chime in and cast their predictions on this 24-minute podcast.

Our discussion covers the full gamut of summer blockbuster films including “The Dark Knight,” “Wanted,” “WALL-E,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Get Smart,” “The Happening,” “Hancock,” “Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” “Iron Man,” “The X-Files: I Want to Believe,” “The Rocker,” “Step Brothers,” “Pineapple Express,” “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and “Tropic Thunder”.

Listen to the episode-one podcast immediately in streaming mode.
Download the full HollywoodChicago.com episode-one podcast now.
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Subscribe to the HollywoodChicago.com podcast in iTunes.

Clockwise from left to right: HollywoodChicago.com staffers Adam Fendelman, Lauren Fendelman, Patrick McDonald and Dustin Levell discuss 2008’s summer blockbuster films in episode one of the HollywoodChicago.com podcast.
Image credit: HollywoodChicago.com

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com