Interesting and sympathetic story - dubious movie.

Rating: 4/10 (27 November 2013)

I had a whole morning to sleep on it, but I'm still not sure what to think of this. First off, it was very weird seeing Dominick West play a 'Judas Priest' guitarist, knowing him thus far only as 'McNulty' - I'll get over it. But somehow the credibility of all the characters ánd the story was practically nil, even if it was based on actual events. Well, 'based on', but the story is presented as a wide range of mostly clichéd and silly incidents built around a half-hearted (romantic) storyline - even if the premise is original, and a few scenes are reasonably impressive (such as the one where 'Izzy' does his first live performance and wins over the crowd), but mostly because of the simple facts, not the filmic value of it.
In all honesty, a lot of those clichés are to be expected in a film about '80s (hard)rock music, but this portrayal didn't convince me. The comedy side of it isn't witty enough (while it's desperately trying to be), and any dramatic impact is destroyed by the fragmentary approach that wants to get every rock'n'roll cliché in there. And then the look of it (settings, clothing, photography, etc.) was just dull and uninspired, except for maybe the vast set ups of the big gigs.
The music wasn't all that either, in my opinion, and I wish they hadn't put in any pop music at all, which just didn't belong there. The acting is just so so, of which Wahlberg's first part of his job (the young fanatic) was the most convincing. Well, I suppose this was one I just had to see (hardrock / Jennifer Aniston / 'based on a true story involving Judas Priest'). And by the way, did anyone else notice the Anvil reference in the end? Or was I seeing things?
Only remotely interesting and entertaining; 4 out of 10.