Plays a catchy enough beat but at the same time lacks the required harmony to truly connect

Rating: Null/10 (28 October 2008)

In what is mostly a one man show or, band- The Rocker, which follows in the footsteps of many other films remarkably similar to its own, is very much like the band it fronts; sparkly, catchy but totally transparent and generic. As far as rock-band movies go, there isn't much new or original material here, and anyone who calls themselves an expert on the genre will find little to enjoy outside of the lead character and the shenanigans he gets into. It's this distinct lack of momentum or having anything exciting to say that makes The Rocker feel old and tired, lacking any real edge or character that one would normally associate with the rock and roll lifestyle. No, much like lead character Fish states midway through the feature, this movie comes off more like a spectator experience; lightly amusing at times and sporadically interesting, but lacking any real solid ensemble of character and following too many rules regarding structure and pacing, The Rocker feels more like an opening band that you have to sit through in order to get to who you really came to see; unfortunately however, that band isn't playing tonight.
Instead we have A.D.D. fronted by angst-ridden teenage pretty-boy Curtis (Teddy Geiger), a band who play pop-rock el stadio music, that one would think lead character Robert "Fish" Fisherman (Rainn Wilson) would actively rebel against as much as drum machines. A veteran of the game from twenty years back, Fisherman is reluctant to help out his nephew's band with a little bit of drumming after having been betrayed by his band back in the eighties. Following a little persuasion however it's not long before A.D.D. are out on the road as Fish attempts to live out his dream of being a rock star whilst the rest of his band mates play video games and sulk in their rooms.
Herein lies where The Rocker loses most of its steam; although Fish is mostly a stereotypical cartoon character, he nevertheless entertains us whilst too often clashing awkwardly with his downright boorish and mundane band mates. Rainn Wilson plays the character as off-wall as possible, often nailing the comedic elements of his personality down well enough to crack a few smiles, and yet the rest of the ensemble fail to engage anywhere near this level. Sure enough it's a decent statement on the difference in times that these characters come from, and indeed that rock and roll has changed, but on a pure entertainment level, this is still a one-man-band affair that plays a catchy enough beat but at the same time lacks the required harmony to truly connect.
Through this distinct difference in character however, The Rocker does establish a fine line of parody regarding classic rockers and rock and roll movies in general; it pokes fun at, and at the same time celebrates the age when rock ruled the world. The majority of this fun of course comes from lead man Wilson who does a great job of impersonating those that have come before him in the genre, whilst keeping a little flavour of his own. People who found Jack Black's performance in the typically similar School of Rock will definitely find something to be amused with here; it's almost the same character transposed a little in regards to exposition. Again, it's a well-enough route to take, but at the expense of ripping off an already established road to success The Rocker rarely does much out of the genre's comfort zone, and with a 12A rating, is given very little room to move in regards to how much rock and roll chaos it can pursue. There's generic and then there's downright formula; The Rocker is akin more to the latter.
The bottom message of The Rocker forms a very loose "rags to riches" story to some degree, detailing a lucky few whose dreams come true and are given a chance of a lifetime. The chances are then that if you have seen any movie from the seemingly endless array of genre examples, that you will have seen this one before. It's not a bad effort by any means, no, but it isn't a remarkable one either. Instead it simply takes a by-the-book approach to telling a lightly engaging, sometimes catchy story that will be sure to make you laugh quite a few times, and in this is The Rocker's greatest strength. Fronted by a character that remains as the only memorable element of the feature, this rock show is standard fare pop-rock; catchy, easy to enjoy and acutely structured but at the same time utterly disposable, overly produced and with little soul to punctuate the rock.

A review by Jamie Robert Ward (http://www.invocus.net)