Rock Star, 2001
Starring:Mark Wahlberg, Jennifer Anniston, Dominic West
Plot-Chris Cole is the singer of a tribute band to a popular heavy metal group called Steel Dragon. Then he gets the chance to replace his idol and be the singer for Steel Dragon.
Musician appearances-Steel Dragon includes Zack Wylde(Ozzy, Black Label Society),Jeff Pilson(Dokken, Dio) and Jason Bonham(son of John Bonham and drummer for Bonham, UFO). The cover band Blood Pollution included Brian Vander Ark (the Verve Pipe) Blas Elias (Slaughter) and Nick Catanese (Black Label Society). Stephen Jenkins (Third Eye Blind) played Bradley the singer of the rival tribute band. Vocal voiceovers were done by Michael Matijevic (Steelheart) and Jeff Scott Soto (Yngwie Malmsteen and like fifty other bands).
The Good- Wow, a metal film with a real budget and it was made in this decade, that's a surprise. The arena scenes looked very good and brought across the feel of a 1980's heavy metal stage without being overdone or tacky. I think the story had a lot of cliches and anyone who read metal magazines was already aware of the implications of what goes or went on with a number of bands behind the scenes. However, the overall pace of the film was very good and perhaps kept the cliches from sticking in your mind for too long. I think the whole idea was to show the tour as something that could change your life quick so the director had everything moving along and it worked. I think overall that Mark Wahlberg was pretty good in his role, Although he was a bit more believable when he was struggling Chris rather than the successful "Izzy". Having real metal musicians as 3/5 of Steel Dragon was a good idea because it just felt and looked right with these guys up on stage. Michael Matijevic has an incredible vocal range and this was almost a decade after those Steelheart albums, what a talent.
The Bad- I am sorry, but Jennifer Anniston is just such a lightweight to me and she plays the same character way too often. I just felt like they had her there for her looks and her name.
The Ugly- The ending is a real problem for me. The ending seems to imply that metal is a phase while the Seattle music of the early to mid-90's is real. The Seattle scene didn't even last a whole decade while metal has been around at different levels for about 35 years and it's stronger now than it was ten years ago. If this movie had been done in say 94 or 95 then it might have made more sense, but it was made in 2001 after the Seattle scene had gone and proved to be a short lived fad. It's like the films was saying "Oh, I am so glad that I am past that fake metal slop so now I can not wash my hair and wear sweaters from the Goodwill store".
Final Word- This film has grown on me because I wasn't that big on it after the first viewing just because of the whole fairy tale/soap opera style of the story. Now I realize that overall it worked and despite the ending the bulk of the rest of the film took some effort to show the work that can go into music and that certain people are not cut out for it. I got my copy for a whopping $4.88 at Wal-mart back in the summer. The director's commentary is worth listening to .
Grade: B-
Next up will be the Decline of western civilization 2:the metal years. A very different film because it is or at least claims to be a documentary.
Ben-It's worth seeing, Ben. There are a lot of things that you have probably seen before and a bit too much drama at times. Yet I think the director did really spend some time on trying to make it look and sound like the 80's arena metal scene.
ReplyDeleteSgt. Fluffy- I passed on it at the theaters because I thought it would be a stinker. I get free rentals so I watched it when it came out on dvd and was surprised that it was decent.
ReplyDeleteI thought the after movie things were better than the actual movie. The clip of Wahlberg coming off the stage replacing his horns with a gang sign was funny. The movie had good spots in it but overall was just alright for me.
ReplyDeleteI must admit I don't see the appeal of Jennifer Aniston, she seems so utterly dull )looks and talent wise). Though she irritated me throughout the film, as the main character began to ascend to the glitter of rock superstardom, her bland and plain presence became all the more misplaced among the decadence and glamour of the surroundings.
ReplyDeleteella M.- Welcome. I think Jennifer Anniston can do light comedy okay, but she struggles at anything beyond that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. The movie was nice but the ending was very disappointing... I've read only bad reviews before wathcing it, but I wanted to watch it. I think the best part was the music(that's a great soundtrack) but the story had way too many clichs...
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