The Rocker
January 2, 2009 by Chris Lentz
Filed under DVD
At its base, The Rocker is a story about heartbreak and new love. That simple premise has been played out God-knows-how-many-times, with both wonderful and shockingly terrible results. It is such a timeless every-day human situation, I am positive it will continue to find its way into cinema as long as movies are around. What makes The Rocker different and interesting is that the love interest is not centered around a man or a woman, but music.
Rainn Wilson, better known as Dwight Schrute from The Office, plays Robert “Fish” Fishman, drummer and founder of the up-and-coming hair band Vesuvius in the 80s (led by vocalist Lex – played by Will Arnett). When the group hits the big-time after a show, their agent convinces them to let Fish go so the son of the label’s leader can play drums for Vesuvius. Fish’s reaction is both comical and mildly horrifying. You just know that what he does to the other members of his band is what anyone who has been let go dreams of doing.
But there is nothing comical about being let go by a band, by people you have come to trust. I have been in the same situation before, and let me tell you, it is very close to the same feeling one gets when they are dumped by a significant other. Fish is forced to watch from a distance over the course of a few decades while Vesuvius solidifies themselves as premier rock gods of the world. Fast forward through those decades, and Fish finds himself unemployed (rightfully so) and homeless. He temporarily moves into the attic of his sister, Lisa (Jane Lynch), when he wakes one morning to the sound of drums. His nephew Matt (Josh Gad) is the keyboardist for a band looking for a drummer. One thing leads to another, and Fish finds himself the eldest member of a band by at least twenty-five years. He’s doing what he loves, but he’s torn between living his dream and behaving like the adult he is (it wouldn’t be a comedy is he acted like an adult most of the time).
His band consists of the previously mentioned Matt, who is a more awkward, likeable version of Jonah Hill (not a knock on Hill, but it’s the best way I can describe Gad’s character), never-smiling bassist Amelia (Superbad and The House Bunny’s Emma Stone), and teen-angst-ridden guitarist and singer Curtis (real-life musician Teddy Geiger, who does a commendable job for a musician-turned-actor…usually a set-up for atrocity). Christina Applegate plays Kim, Curtis’ mom and the grown-up apple of Fish’s eye, though that relationship is never fully developed and, along with the lackluster but uplifting ending, leaves on with a bit of an empty feeling after viewing the film.
Thankfully, The Rocker is just way too funny for me to really care about those two simplicities. Wilson shines in the film, in all of his awkward hilarity (I drum nude…I won’t explain that statement but there’s no way you won’t know what I’m talking about after seeing the movie and no way you won’t love it). He plays perfectly a man who refuses to let go, who lives in the past to the point of a fault. In the end, is it a good or bad message to send to people? I’m not entirely sure. I think what one should come away from the movie with is the idea that you have to find a balance between where you are in life and your dreams. Don’t lean too far either way.
It’s one of the truly funnier and more emotionally uplifting films you’ll see in a while. I strongly recommend it for a good batch of laughs and smiles. And the music. It’s actually pretty good.
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