Release Date:
Friday, September 7, 2001
Ever since we became hopelessly addicted to VH1s Behind the Music, the whole unknown becomes big star then gets caught up in sex and booze and then finally gives it all up storyline has become more haggard than Louie Andersons second lap in the pool. Rock Star had a good premise, but they unfortunately ran the script through the Random Cliché Generator and churned out a not awful, but not terribly interesting movie.
Based on the true story of that Judas Priest tribute band singer who got snapped up by the band after Rob Halford split, Rock Star takes some obvious liberties in dramatizing the story. It starts out with some great comic moments and some nice stabs at 80s hair metals thinly-veiled homosexual hypocrisy (Halford stand-in Bobby Beers, played by Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels Jason Flemyng, is chastised for being gay by men wearing more eyeshadow than Debbie Harry), but it all settles into the VH1 groove and becomes so lazily predictable that youll probably be able to quote chunks of dialogue before even hearing it. This movie cant even scare up a decent tragedy to bring our hero crashing to earthhe simply realizes hes an ass one morning and walks away. Thats it. Mark Wahlberg plays another variation on his patented naive and earnest good guy role and comes across like Dirk Diggler with hair extensions instead of penis extensions. But, if you like the idea of Kisss Lick it up and Bon Jovis Living on a Prayer played on the soundtrack without a hint of irony, then Rock Star is your bag. Personally, we found ourselves so thoroughly mesmerized by Timothy Spalls glorious mullet that we couldnt take our eyes off the screen whenever he was on.
Based on the true story of that Judas Priest tribute band singer who got snapped up by the band after Rob Halford split, Rock Star takes some obvious liberties in dramatizing the story. It starts out with some great comic moments and some nice stabs at 80s hair metals thinly-veiled homosexual hypocrisy (Halford stand-in Bobby Beers, played by Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels Jason Flemyng, is chastised for being gay by men wearing more eyeshadow than Debbie Harry), but it all settles into the VH1 groove and becomes so lazily predictable that youll probably be able to quote chunks of dialogue before even hearing it. This movie cant even scare up a decent tragedy to bring our hero crashing to earthhe simply realizes hes an ass one morning and walks away. Thats it. Mark Wahlberg plays another variation on his patented naive and earnest good guy role and comes across like Dirk Diggler with hair extensions instead of penis extensions. But, if you like the idea of Kisss Lick it up and Bon Jovis Living on a Prayer played on the soundtrack without a hint of irony, then Rock Star is your bag. Personally, we found ourselves so thoroughly mesmerized by Timothy Spalls glorious mullet that we couldnt take our eyes off the screen whenever he was on.