Rock Star (2001)

Wow! Such a good movie.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Rock Star tells the story of the lead singer of a tribute band who get's to live out his dreams on a much grander stage. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Jennifer Aniston, Timothy Spall and Timthy Olyphant it certainly doesn't lack star power.As you'd imagine being a movie about classic/glam rock the soundtrack is fantastic, right up there among the best of them though shatter any illusions you may have that it was Wahlberg singing.It's big, it's stylish and to my knowledge it's pretty damn accurate so why am I not rating this higher? I like the cast, I'm an old school rocker myself and on paper this should be a guaranteed tick in the win column from me.The construction of a movie is simple, you need a beginning a middle and an end and Rock Star has that but in a rather disjointed way. The films construction is my biggest grip, it comes across more like a Behind the Music episode than an actual movie. The protagonist walks away having learned several life lessons but the viewer (Or rather in this viewers case) it felt more empty than it should have.Rock Star is an interesting enough look at a subject rarely touched upon by the mainstream Hollywood movie industry but perhaps needed an additional 30+ minute to really flesh it out.The Good:Great castAwesome soundtrackSome brilliant visualsFirst movie ever to make Timothy Spall a successful "Good guy"The Bad:Olyphant feels wastedOddly builtI struggled to feel for our leadsThings I Learnt From This Movie:Jennifer Aniston holds the secret of eternal youthThey could/should have found Wahlberg a better wigBallet is where rock stars go to die

It's Pittsburg in the 80s. Chris Cole (Mark Wahlberg) idolizes the band Steel Dragon and works tirelessly to emulate them in a tribute band. His girlfriend Emily Poule (Jennifer Aniston) is his biggest fan. He repairs copying machines and still lives at home. His cop brother dismisses his dream. After an on stage fight with his guitarist Rob (Timothy Olyphant), he is kicked out of the band as they want to start playing their own music. Then a surprise call from Steel Dragon guitarist Kirk Cuddy (Dominic West) for Chris to audition for the band as he fires the lead singer Bobby Beers.Mark Wahlberg has good likability as the dreamer and does a good rock star imitation. Jennifer Aniston is pretty good. She isn't doing anything out of her comfort zone. There are some rocking music even if Marky Mark doesn't do the singing. It's an earnest recreation like a tribute band. What this movie needs is a lot more jokes. Falling off the stairs could have been funny but it's played very seriously. The story is just too filled with clichés for me to take seriously. It feels very superficial and not gritty enough. In the end, I enjoyed Wahlberg's commitment to his character.

A simple film that plugs in a talented singer for a cover band dreaming to become a genuine 80's rock star. Chris (later to be known as Izzy), is looked upon as a strong leader of his cover band but eventually his obsession with Steel Dragon (his favorite band)and unwillingness to alter the bands sound creates waves of dissatisfaction to his fellow band mates. After a confrontation over the seriousness and intention of playing cover songs, Chris was thought to be misdirected and was eventually kicked out of his own band. Things change, however, after two girls who make themselves out to be groupies, showed front man and lead guitarist Kurt Cunning his video performance. He auditions, he gets in and the rest is pretty simple.I cringed at the end when he would eventually reunite with the girl that he thought got away. I didn't expect this film to go to that region of cheese that you often see in big production films that are distributed by Warner Bros. It almost seems like the writers of the film had no experience and did not conduct interviews to grasp the detail of what life as a rock star really was about. It kept inquisitive guys like myself to prefer to have seen real video clips and interviews from some of the top selling bands of the 80's without the stereotypical and scrape off the top story. It became formulated and predictable to say the least, but the film still has a spark of charm as it relives all of our rock star fantasies that we had when we were kids.6/10.

Being a metal head myself (though I like other music genres too)I'm not going to review the production qualities of this movie. No, I'm going to go higher and to speak my mind about the horrible facts who makes this to be one of the worst insults to whatever heavy metal have inspired in its more than 40 years of life.1. The title. If the plot of the film consists in the story of a METAL fan singer, who sings in a METAL band who pays tribute to another METAL band called Steel Dragon, and one day he's giving the opportunity to front the latter band, why on earth have this movie been called "Rock Star"?. Rock stars are Mick Jagger, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and they are not that metal (at all!). 2. The music. Is Bon Jovi metal?, no. Is INXS metal?, no. Enough said. 3. The lead actress. When you know beforehand, that the movie is going to portrait 80's metal life style, one with even a certain amount of knowledge about that era could foresee that the lead female actress is going to be someone named Doro Pesch (Warlock's singer) or even Lita Ford. Nop, here we have Rachel from that annoying TV sitcom. 4. Steel Dragon. If this movie is based (loosely) on Tim Owens'life, then Steel Dragon is the fictional equivalent of Judas Priest. Mmm, not likely. Though made up of great musicians (Zakk Wylder, Jeff Pilson and Jason Bonham)Steel Dragon's image and music is nowhere heavier or good as Priest's. I see them as a slighter heavy version of Motley Crue (when they played pop metal). 5. The main protagonist. Marky Mark it's an outsider here. I think Vanilla Ice could have done a better effort. It's like doing a film about the life of Bob Marley, and giving the main role to Adam Sandler (who would suck even if he decides to play himself in a movie about his life). 6. The end. If you think this movie is inconsistent, then don't watch the end. I'll tell you one word: Seattle. Can you make the associations?.In the end, Rock Star is not good or bad. It's not entertaining or depressing. It's just a travesty to the Metal genre, the Metal community, its bands and fans alike.