The Rocker

This was the biggest surprise of the year - bar none.

A great comedy - as in laughs, feel good, and just plain enjoyable.

The plot of the loser who makes good at rock'n'roll second time around is very Jack Black and Rainn Wilson does a GREAT job - there is no recourse to gross or sarcastic humor here - rather it plays on its rock roots, chucks in some stupidity, and some kick-ass tunes, and lots of excellent one liners and like I say totally surprised us as to how genuinely funny and warm-hearted this is.

Great cast and a great script - sure it's not perfect, but after all the pseudo-comedy and angst of 2008 it was refreshing just to sit back and enjoy an entertaining movie.

we loved it and are normally really cynical about comedies - but this rocks and would recommend to anyone as a real effort by all involved to stop being smarter than the audience and just enjoy life - in two and a half words? - it rocks!

As a metal/rock musician with a desk job myself, I could really appreciate this simple inspirational story as well as the many laughs it dished out. One line plot summary: Washed up former drummer turned office drone joins nephew's band, gets his mojo back and gets the chance to show the former band, an obvious AC/DC parody/homage, who betrayed him, that he can make it to the top without them. OK so that was a bit of a run-on sentence but anyhoo, with a great setup like that, plus choice casting of Rainn Wilson in the lead, the comedy pretty much writes itself. The story reminds me a little bit of the Dave Mustaine (Megadeth) / Metallica rivalry/hatred what with Mustaine kicked out of the band for his wild antics only to make it on his own without ever selling out. There are several cameos from familiar faces, the casting is perfect. The younger kids in the band are believable characters, not totally reckless and sensationalized like The OC but not given the wuss WWJD treatment of other TV fair like 7th Heaven. There is some underage drinking and pot references, but nobody becomes an alcoholic or a drug addict, just kids experiencing the time of their lives and living their dream as rock stars. The movie never takes itself too seriously but it has plenty of heart and is more than just a vehicle for Wilson's brilliant penchant for playing strangely aloof, yet obsessive characters. One of the comic bits I really liked was where The Rocker is humoring the singer of his Nephew's band, telling him how sweet his mopey, whiny ass lyrics are in this sort of underhandedly sarcastic tone. The movie is not afraid to poke fun at the frivolousness of modern youth's current popular music. That's not to say the songs are no good, but they are definitely a tad emo and gay for this rocker's taste, and I think Rain Wilson's character secretly agrees, but is too excited at the chance to play again to voice his opinion. On the whole, I felt it delivered more laughs than School of Rock with Wilson giving an equally energetic performance to that of Jack Black in said flick. I would recommend one if you like the other for sure. If I have one complaint about this movie it's this oddly treated subplot of the chick in the band getting knocked up, presumably by the singer. It is sort of brought up and never really dealt with or resolved. Not that I care about whether or not they had a baby or whatever, just saying why put drama in a movie just for drama's sake and then not take it anywhere? Should have just left that out it was kinda irking me I think they threw that in there because they realized hey the movie's halfway over and nothing remotely serious has happened. The first ten minutes or so of this movie are yispecially hilarious, excellent opening. I would easily rank the chase scene in the top ten funniest movie moments of 2008. "Dude...he can't be killed...He can't be killed dude! Drive! Drive!"

Peter Cattaneo MBE is probably best known for his hit film, "The Full Monty." But here, he really utilizes top character actors and actresses to create some memorable and humorous moments. Rainn Wilson maybe the star but he's not alone. Jeff Garlin and Jane Lynch plays his brother-in-law and sister. Christina Applegate plays the mom of one of the musicians. The story isn't as sweet or vulgar as one would think of today's comedies. The only questionable scene is Rainn's character is naked for the rehearsal which lands him better known as the naked drummer. The beginning is humorous with Fred Armesen and Will Arnett as members of Vesuvius who ditched the drummer, Robert Fishman (Rain's character) right on the verge of stardom. Fish retrieves to having a somewhat normal life even has a normal girlfriend played for a few minutes by Jane Krakowski. Jason Sudekis plays the band's manager. Howard Hesseman plays their RV driver. I loved the casting of this film because of all the familiar faces. Jane Lynch is one of my favorite actresses because she can be both dramatic and comedic at once. This film is rated PG-13 and I think it has to do with that one nude scene but apart from that. They really have a message about working together as a team. This film wouldn't have been made without the teamwork of the cast and crew itself.

So I just went to a pre screening of this film in downtown Chicago and Mr rainn Wilson himself was there to do a Q & A afterwards.

This movie was actually laugh out loud funny, it shows a lot of character sub plots and builds a good and funny funny time telling about each character. This is a go for the win movie and even gave me tingles once and awhile. There is a lot of sub plots and it all works together for the ending. It is about Rainn's character who was in a in a rock band that was on their way to being huge and they kick him out of the band. He starts a band with his nephew and his friends and show them how to be true rockstar giving himself the chance and the dream that was cut from him. I give it a 8 out of 10 and Rainn was a true comic.

In 1986, drummer Fish (Rainn Wilson) gets dropped when the president of the label wants to replace him with his nephew. Twenty years later, the band has become legendary success while he gets fired from his pointless job. He but really his girlfriend Carol breaks up his relationship. He's forced to live with his sister Lisa and her family. His nerdy nephew Matt (Josh Gad) has a garage band with Amelia (Emma Stone) and Curtis (Teddy Geiger). They lose their drummer and are forced to ask Fish to play with them at prom. It doesn't go well and he goes to apologize. He meets Curtis' mother Kim (Christina Applegate). Lisa kicks Fish out of the house and then their practice with a naked Fish goes viral.

Rainn Wilson is terrific playing this character. He's been playing the same self-delusional slightly-angry loud-mouthed damaged character. The greatness comes from the fact that he's still likable while being a jerk. Sure, it's formulaic sweetness and copying other movies like 'School of Rock'. I don't see that as a defect. The three kids are well cast. Geiger is a good tortured lead and he can sing too. Emma Stone is the adorably dark Emma Stone. Josh Gad is a great nerd.