Utterly predictable, formulaic, but not entirely unamusing.
Comment
08/20/08
The Rocker (2008)
39
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:117
Fresh:46
Rotten:71
Average Rating:5.1/10
Consensus: With a predictable and lightweight story, the earnest efforts of the cast are squandered by The Rocker's bland script.
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Genre: Comedies
US Box Office: $6,339,401
Synopsis: Slovenly drummer Robert "Fish" Fishman (THE OFFICE's Rainn Wilson) is booted out of his 1980s hair metal band, Vesuvius, right as they're signed to a big label, crushing his dreams and leading to a... [More]
Starring: Rainn Wilson, Christina Applegate, Jeff Garlin, Teddy Geiger
Director: Peter Cattaneo, Anthony B. Richmond
Reviews for The Rocker
It's not exactly heartwarming to realize that The Rocker's Gen X fantasy of an escape from middle age is really a developmental nightmare.
08/20/08
I don't want to oversell The Rocker, but in a summer of erratic, assaultive comedies all up and down the budget scale, this Rainn Wilson vehicle -- a kind of Home School of Rock -- stakes out its own corner of the market.
08/20/08
may not rock your world, but it's a sweet little fable that doesn't trouble itself with reality
08/19/08
A comedy in the vein of "School of Rock," "The Rocker" is a fine first starring vehicle for "The Office" star Wilson.
08/19/08
The timing is a bit off with this routine, even if there are a few solos that totally kick ass.
08/19/08
Feels like another one of those movies Will Ferrell turned down, so the producers had to find the next best thing (and Jack Black was already under contract to do something else).
08/19/08
Makes up for a lack of gut-busting moments simply by being genial and smartly written. The Rocker is a minor, feel-good entertainment. It's not rocket science, but its heart is in the right place.
08/19/08
...an amiable little film that covers familiar ground to entertaining ends. The finale is as expected but satisfying nonetheless.
08/19/08
Certainly nothing this year will compete with the inexcusable The Love Guru for its sheer inability to create laughs, but The Rocker does its best to at least come close.
08/19/08
Wilson is buoyed by a sporadically witty script, and while there are no surprises whatsoever in the story, his goofy, puppylike charm renders what could have been a disaster merely an unfortunate event.
08/19/08
Jack Black's fearless, foolish ferocity is missing.
08/19/08
Like its protagonist, the movie is sweet but slow and a little out of date.
08/19/08
Top CriticTwo great cuts don't make an album and two fine supporting performances don't make The Rocker worthwhile.
08/19/08
The Rocker might really have rocked if it didn't feel like a cover of a couple of superior comedies.
08/19/08
Audiences would be better served staying home and playing Rock Band than wasting their time on something as leaden and unfunny as The Rocker.
08/19/08
Top CriticThe real problem, of course, is that Fish isn't all that interesting a protagonist.
08/19/08
A juvenile fairy tale that plays like the pilot for a Jonas Brothers sitcom on the Disney Channel, The Rocker comes off as something penned by an old dude who hasn't bought music since it was sold 'on records.'
08/19/08
Rainn Wilson said in an interview on The Rocker: 'There is something about a drummer. They're not cerebral. I have a tendency to be more cerebral and reserved. But he's a big puppy dog. It was lot of fun to plunge into that character.'"
08/19/08
In yet the umpteenth arrested development manchild comedy, Rainn Wilson lets his inner Jack Black out with a good dose of Will Ferrell style body barement and mines some laughs out of a largely forgettable film.
08/19/08
Latest News for The Rocker
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August 20, 2008:
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