Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Fox Home Entertainment – 102 minutes – Rated PG-13 – 1080p Widescreen 1.85:1 – DTS-HD Lossless 5.1 Audio Mix – Digital Copy

Comedies about Rock and Roll have been around ever since someone coined the phrase. It’s an easy genre because everyone loves Rock and Roll, right? This is what the film The Rocker attempts to capitalize on, but somehow falls short. If you don’t mind endless clichés, The Rocker comes to Blu-ray from Fox Home Entertainment, so ready to tease your hair and put on those tight day-glo spandex pants, because it’s time to rock.

THE MOVIE

Rainn Wilson stars as Robert “Fish” Fishman, who in the 80’s was a drummer for a band on the verge making it big called Vesuvius. As part of the band’s deal to sign with the record company, they are told to lose Fish. Desiring fame over friendship, they dump fish and go on to fortune and glory while Fish is forced to live the next twenty years depressed over his former friends’ success and stuck in a dead end job as a customer service rep.

His luck gets worse as he looses his job, his girlfriend and gets kick out of his home and is forced to leave in his sister’s house with her husband and kids. When Fish’s nephew starts a band called A.D.D., they ask him to be the drummer because of his musical experience, and thanks to a You Tube homemade video that gets a ton of hits, A.D.D. gets a record deal and Fish gets his chance in the spotlight as a forty year old member of a teen band.

The band gains popularity and goes on the road along with the lead singer’s mom played by Christina Applegate, and gets their biggest shot when they are asked to open for Fish’s old band Vesuvius. Fish is obviously not too happy about playing second fiddle to his former friends, but his desire to be a rock god puts the fight in him and he takes the stage to put his new band on top.

The Rocker is nothing more than a vehicle for Rainn Wilson to become a movie star, but unfortunately his charm for the TV show The Office, does not carry over. Sadly he just looks like his desperately trying to be a cheap imitation of Jack Black, prancing around in his underwear with his pasty tubby body and doing anything for a pity laugh. The underdog plot just doesn’t work, because we’ve seen this story so many times and can predict the outcome of ever scene before it happens. Even the idea of introducing a romance between Applegate and Wilson doesn’t work because there’s just no chemistry between the two of them.

If you’re a Rainn Wilson fan (sound’s pretty sad), you may get a laugh or two, but overall there are so many other Rock and Roll themed films out there that are more worthy of your attention. But just as long as you don’t mind a watching a film that has a laundry list of movie clichés, it may be ok for a rental.

VIDEO

The Rocker offers a full 1080p widescreen picture in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio that looks good, but it’s nothing outstanding. Colors are bright, and flesh tones are well balanced with very little grain. It’s most likely a small step above the standard DVD, but it does the job without getting fancy.

AUDIO

With a DTS-HD Lossless 5.1 audio mix, a film that is centered on Rock and Roll must have good sound, and The Rocker delivers. The music sequences are the main highlight and are worthy of cranking up the speakers. Outside of the musical performances, the dialogue is clear and background sounds are solid.

EXTRAS

The Rocker comes to Blu-ray with a good package of extras including a Digital Copy of the film, but unfortunately, like the film itself, it’s your basic cut and paste stuff.

There are two audio commentary tracks, one with the film’s director Peter Cattaneo and the film’s star Rainn Wilson. The second audio commentary features the film’s co-stars, Josh Gad, Teddy Geiger, Emma Stone, and Jason Sudeikis.

Rock Tales has the cast and crew telling stories about going to their first concerts.

MTV Panel is a stupid and staged segment where the film’s co-star Josh Gad loses I when audio technical difficulties prevents him from getting in on a interview segment.

Behind The Band is a spoof of VH1’s behind the music, looking at the film’s fictional band Vesuvius.

Rainn Wilson Office Rocker has the cast trying to convince him to get them a role on his TV show.

The Music looks at how the film’s stars were trained by real musicians to look and perform like a band.

Ten deleted scenes are included, as well as various gag clips and outtakes.

A mock PSA features Vesuvius telling their fans it’s ok to play with yourself.

A music video for the song featured in the film I’m Not Bitter is included.

Fox Movie Channel presents in character with The Rocker features Rainn Wilson talking about the movie and his part.

A second disc is included that includes a Digital Copy of the movie for your portable device of choice.

BOTTOM LINE

The Rocker is harmless, but is basically a spotlight for Rainn Wilson to do his thing. The Blu-ray offers decent picture and sound, and even though there are a lot of extras listed, none are particularly worthy. Again, The Rocker is just a rental, so don’t expect anything more than what it offers.

SCORES (out of 5):

The Movie: 2.0

Video: 3.0

Sound: 3.0

Extras: 3.0

Bottom Line: 2.5