 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Inevitably one tries to find comparisons between movies, which is sometimes unfair to the movies involved, yet we continue to do so. I feel this is necessary to help people better understand and comprehend the information that they are given about a movie they have not seen. In this instance I will be drawing comparisons between Rock Star and Almost Famous, which really isn’t fair to either film. Rock Star starts with an introduction to Chris Coles (Mark Wahlberg, Planet of the Apes) who is in a tribute band for Steel Dragon. Steel Dragon is an imaginary 80s British rock band much akin to say Def Leppard. Chris is really into knowing and acting like Steel Dragon’s lead singer Bobby Beers (Jason Flemyng, Snatch). Many of Chris’ friends think Chris needs some mental help, but his girlfriend/manager Emily (Jennifer Aniston, Dream for an Insomniac) thinks he has talent and sticks with him. She stays with him even after he is kicked out of the tribute band he started. Well soon after Chris’ ouster, Steel Dragon’s lead singer is kicked out of the band by the other members and Chris is brought in for an audition. Chris lands the gig but then starts going by the stage name of Izzy, the pussy eater (after which we begin to see a lot of sex and nudity). Reluctantly at first, but soon after entering the band Chris gets caught up in the rock lifestyle of sex, drugs & rock n’ roll. This tears him and Emily apart, sending her off to Seattle to start a coffee shop with one of the wives’ of another band member. Throughout this time period Chris gets some interesting advice from the band’s manager Mats (Timothy Spall, Chicken Run). At first he tells Chris to live up the lifestyle, but later serves as an example to Chris of how you can turn out if you stick with the lifestyle. Rock Star is written by John Stockwell, and directed by Stephen Herek. Others in the cast are Dominic West, Jason Bonham, Timothy Olyphant, the lovely Dagmara Dominczyk, Jeff Pilson, Blas Elias, and several others. Wahlberg puts in a good performance in the lead role, which is rather different from many of his past roles in action films like The Planet of The Apes and Three Kings. This good performance might be explained by the fact that he himself used to be a rock star (remember Marky Mark). Setting his performance aside, the movie never really developed the Chris character fully, unlike in Almost Famous. In fact the film fails to show how Chris got so into Steel Dragon’s music to begin with (slight spoiler ahead), nor did it fully show what eventually makes him leave the band (the reason is barely even implied). Also there were quite a few dull spots, and the film wasn’t nearly as funny as it should have been given that it is supposed to be a comedy. With all this in mind I give Rock Star five couches mainly for Wahlberg and the soundtrack. Rock on.
Last updated: Saturday, October 28, 2006 05:37:39 PM Click Here to get back into frames.
|
