Review of ROCK STAR

Become a fan on Facebook Follow on Twitter

Review by Mark Dujsik

Music is, at the same time, one of the most uniting and polarizing of all art. People’s taste in music can help determine whether or not you’ll get along with that person and to what extent you will. Great music can bring out intelligent discussion, invigorating talent, and a great sense of personal satisfaction. Even bad music brings people together, and Rock Star proves it. All right, 80s heavy metal isn’t bad music, but it’s certainly a genre that had (and probably has) its fans, naysayers, and those who are just indifferent to it. Rock Star won’t change your opinion of the music, and it’s definitely aimed at the fans.

Chris Coles (Mark Wahlberg) is the lead singer for a Steel Dragon tribute band who completely idolizes the actual lead singer. His room is a shrine to the band; he has a misprinted album signed by the entire band; and he dresses and does everything just like him. The band is worried about Chris’ attitude and lets him go. He wakes up one morning to a phone call from one of the real Steel Dragons asking for him to come out to California. He goes with his manager/girlfriend Emily (Jennifer Aniston) and discovers an audition to replace the lead singer. He gets the job, obviously, changes his name to "Izzy," and has a great time—at first.

Will the reality live up to the dream? The movie plays out about as conventionally and predictably as possible. There’s another woman for Emily to be jealous of; there’s a rival cover band; there are a lot of repeating scenarios. The family is comprised of a mean brother and the most understanding parents this side of the dad in American Pie. Writer John Stockwell has given us every setup and payoff, and none of it really goes anywhere new. Where does it go? Well, Chris and Emily are slightly naive, and apparently the audience should be too. When Chris is exposed to sex, drugs, and many other job perks, the movie seems to want to surprise us. There’s a definite good/bad morality present here—bad is the music, good is where Chris came from. There are no shades of gray, and by the end when Chris finds what he wants, you begin to wonder if he found Jesus too.

For all the clichés and preaching, Rock Star does have a few positive aspects. The performance scenes are fun, and watching Chris go from innocent to full-fledged rock star each consecutive performance is a major part of it. Wahlberg is very charming here. All of the screen-presence that was missing in Planet of the Apes is on display. He is definitely the movie’s best asset.

But he can’t save the movie from its flaws. It’s been fourteen years since This is Spinal Tap, the most encompassing heavy metal movie, was released. Thinking about it just shows how forgettable Rock Star ultimately is.

Note: Movies are very prone now to showing outtakes in a last ditch attempt to get laughs. Rock Star is no exception. However, it was probably not the best idea. Why? Well, the slate has the movie’s working title Metal God on it. This fact doesn’t exactly give the best impression of the confidence the filmmakers had in their project. Why the change? My guess is that the implied blasphemy would offend the targets of the hidden agenda. But then again, I also liked Jurassic Park III.

Back to Home