Rock Star
(2001)
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If you've ever indulged a rock & roll fantasy, Rock Star will give you the vicarious thrill of seeing it come to life. Chris Cole always wanted to be a rock star and his girlfriend thinks he can make it to the top. He still lives with his parents, when he is not fronting a tribute band, but one day he is fired. Devastated he returns home only to receive a phone call asking him to replace the singer in the legendary heavy metal band, Steel Dragons - the band he has always idolised...As a cautionary tale it's routine, but as a leather-pants love story, Rock Star's got enough good karma to keep its dream alive. |
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A bedtime story may be an unlikely foundation for the exploration of the excesses of the heavy rock industry, but without doubt it's a fairy tale that director Stephen Herek's riotous drama Rock Star most closely resembles. Dressed up in the clothing of hedonism and outrage, this rags-to-riches morality lesson is little more than a leather-pants clad Cinderella. Inspired by the real-life story of rock group Judas Priest, it centres on tribute band vocalist Mark Wahlberg, who learns life's harshest truths when he joins his rock heroes as their new lead singer. Coloured acid-bright with a series of boisterous vignettes plucked from documented rock history, the film is a wild and often hilarious trip — a well acted “boys will be boys” rampage with a romantic soft centre. Crazy episodes involving hotel furniture glued to ceilings, drug-fuelled orgies and groupie selection give the piece some Spinal Tap charm, while the pervasive old-school metal soundtrack is intoxicating enough to help distract from Jennifer Aniston's woeful miscasting as the rock chick girlfriend. The result is throwaway entertainment that's as fluffed up as the hair of the rockers it portrays, yet endearingly satisfying nonetheless.