Rock bands seem to be all the rage as of late. You’ve got the explosion of the Guitar Hero franchise across all videogame platforms everywhere, a successful Led Zeppelin reunion concert in early December (and talks of a tour), the release of Judd Apatow’s fake biopic screwball, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, and then The Rocker, a new hair band comedy starring Rainn Wilson, Josh Gad, Christina Applegate, Teddy Geiger and Will Arnett, among others.
In this one, Wilson, of NBC’s The Office fame, stars as Robert “Fish” Fishman, a failed '80s drummer who is given a second chance at fame. Twenty years after being kicked out of his hair band Vesuvius, Fish thought he had given up all hope in living the rock n’ roll dream, until one day when he hears his high school nephew’s band, A.D.D., is in need of a drummer. After some convincing, the band takes Fish under its wing, giving the aged rocker a chance to reclaim the throne of rock he’s always thought he deserved. Fish’s nephew, Matt, is portrayed by Gad, while Applegate plays love interest to Fish and mother of the band’s guitarist, Curtis (Geiger).
Save for mostly comedic bit parts, beginning with Galaxy Quest in 1999, Wilson hardly has any box office numbers that were arguably influenced by his star power. Instead, Wilson has made his living — so far, at least — out of playing zany characters on the small screen, including the uber-creepy apprentice Arthur Martin in the third season of HBO’s Six Feet Under, as well as his current gig as paper salesman Dwight K. Shrute in The Office, now in its fourth season. A successful star turn here — coupled with portraying Dwight on NBC — could make Wilson the next breakout comedy personality, a club Seth Rogen joined after starring in the hugely successful, $100 million-plus Knocked Up and Superbad.
Yet both times Rogen, taking his contributions out of the equation, relied on the comedic genius of scribe Apatow, who is absent from Wilson’s The Rocker — which on a side note is probably the blandest of titles for a movie about, well, a rocker. In his place are co-writers Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky, perhaps best known for writing episodes for The Larry Sanders Show and The Simpsons, respectively. The pair previously teamed up in 2004 for the disappointing comedy Seeing Other People, about a couple that allows each other to have final flings before their wedding day, earning practically zilch — less than $90,000 domestically. (Eric Hughes/BOP)
Vital statistics for The Rocker |
| Main Cast |
Rainn Wilson, Christina Applegate, Josh Gad |
| Supporting Cast |
Terry Geiger, Jane Lynch, Emma Stone, Jason Sudeikis, Howard Hesseman, Jeff Garlin, Bradley Cooper, Lonny Ross, Will Arnett, Fred Armisen |
| Director |
Peter Cattaneo |
| Screenwriter |
Ryan Jaffe, Wally Wolodarsky, Maya Forbes |
| Distributor |
20th Century Fox |
| Trailer |
Click Here for Trailer
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| Official Site |
http://www.rockermovie.com/ |
| Screen Count |
2,784 |
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Talent in red has entry in The Big Picture |
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