Review of Rock Star (2001) by Craig S — 19 Oct 2007

Directed by: Stephen Herek.

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Jennifer Aniston, Dominic West, Timothy Spall.

I never had an intention to really see this originally, I was never a lover of 80's metal but more of the 00's and after hearing average reviews and watching so many amazing music based films, I threw it from my mind....until I saw it on TV one night and was not disappointed....nor was I amazed as I wish I had been.

The story follows Chris aka 'Izzy' who idolizes his favorite band, Steel Dragon. It can be said that he is one of there biggest fans and he has such major respect for them that he forms a 'tribute' band, even while they are still on the scene. When a video is made of the tribute bands concert and connections get it into the hands of Steel Dragon's guitarist, Chris becomes the new front man and all his fantasies come true and he soon realizes the life of a rock star. One word to sum the film up from first glance is 'generic' and you would be spot on, there is nothing new or original about this film and every chance given, the screenwriter plays every rock cliché known to man, but what makes it a lot more enjoyable is the energy infused into the film by all and the right attitude and respect towards the music, that we forget about how formulaic it really is. What could be seen as a joke hiring Mark Wahlberg as lead (a crappy rapper boy as a rocker) actually turns out to be the best choice. He has a great charisma and energy to pull it all off and it is forgivable that he is lip syncing.

I can't really rate the film any higher than a 3, I keep in mind the different elements of film making and those extra stars wouldn't be right. The film is as formulaic as they come and it certainly has all been seen before, but Rock Star has the right energy, respect and attitude to work its clichéd formula right and create an enjoyable 2 hours. Simply put, its a simplistic 'Almost Famous' that works....if only all generic films were like this.