The Rocker (film)
| The Rocker | |
|---|---|
20th Century Fox | |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15 million[1] |
| Box office | $8.8 million[1] |
The Rocker is a 2008 American
Plot
In 1986, Vesuvius, a glam metal band from Cleveland, Ohio, performs at a local theater. After the show, their manager informs them that a record company is interested in signing them, but only if they replace drummer Robert "Fish" Fishman with the nephew of the record company's president. At first, the band refuses, as they have been together since high school and agree that Fish is the heart and soul of their band, but when their manager tells them they would get to tour as the opening act for Whitesnake, the band relents and drives away in their van, without Fish.
Twenty years later, Vesuvius remains an immensely successful band, while Fish is living a normal life. Matt Gadman, Fish's high school-aged nephew, plays keyboards in an alternative rock band called A.D.D., along with his friends Curtis Powell and Amelia Stone. The band is scheduled to play their school's prom, but the gig is in jeopardy when their drummer gets suspended from school. Matt convinces the others to allow Fish to fill in. The concert goes well at first, as Fish is still a natural talent on drums (in spite of not playing in 20 years), but he ruins the gig when he gets carried away and launches into an impromptu drum solo during a ballad. However, Fish is so excited by Curtis' songs and the chance to play again, he convinces them to let him join the band if he can deliver another gig. After repeated failed attempts, he finally succeeds in securing a gig at a club in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Because the other members are all minors, they have to sneak out to the gig, but are apprehended in the process, as Fish borrowed his sister's minivan without permission, which she reported as stolen. Fish is forced to leave and rents the basement of a Chinese restaurant.
The band invents a new way to practice via four-way iChat. To the dismay of his bandmates, Fish performs in the nude due to the heat of his new residence. The video of the practice quickly goes viral under the title of the "naked drummer band". The band is signed to a recording contract by the same label as Vesuvius, and are sent on a midwest tour. However, Fish commits stereotypical acts, despite the physical costs on his body, and he vandalizes a hotel room, causing the band to be apprehended again.
After securing A.D.D.'s release, Kim, Curtis' mother, promises the other parents she will stay for the remainder of the tour, so their kids won't be influenced by Fish's antics.
The label asks A.D.D. to open a show for Vesuvius honoring their induction into the
Cast
- Rainn Wilson as Robert “Fish” Fishman
- Christina Applegate as Kim Powell
- Josh Gad as Matt Gadman
- Teddy Geiger as Curtis Powell
- Emma Stone as Amelia Stone
- Jason Sudeikis as David Marshall
- Jane Lynch as Lisa Gadman
- Jeff Garlin as Stan Gadman
- Will Arnett as Lex Drennan
- Fred Armisen as Wayne Kerr
- Howard Hesseman as Nev Gator
- Lonny Ross as Timmy Sticks
- Bradley Cooper as Trash Grice
- Jon Glaser as Billy Ault
- Demetri Martin as Kip
- Aziz Ansari as Aziz
- Nicole Arbour as Trashy Groupy
- Pete Best as The Guy at the Bus Stop
- Jane Krakowski as Carol
- Samantha Weinstein as Violet
- Jonathan Malen as Jeremy
- Laura de Carteret as Amelia's Mom
Production
The Rocker was mostly filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with some exterior shots filmed in Cleveland, Ohio from July to September 2007.[2]
Soundtrack
| The Rocker: Music from the Motion Picture | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
| Released | July 22, 2008 |
| Genre | Pop rock, heavy metal |
| Length | 38:41 |
| Label | Columbia |
| Producer | Chad Fischer |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
Allmusic |    [1] |
The official
Tracks credited to Teddy Geiger and attributed to the band A.D.D. in the film were recorded mostly by Chad Fischer with Geiger providing only lead vocals.[4] The exception is a cover of "Nothin' But a Good Time", on which Teddy Geiger plays additional guitar.[5] Track two "Bitter" and track nine "I'm So Bitter" are two versions of the same song with different arrangement and slightly different lyrics.
The actual vocals on Vesuvius songs are provided by Keith England.
"The Rocker Score Suite" performed by Chad Fischer contains an excerpt of "Take No Prisoners"[5] originally by The Rage from the album Big Spill.
Promotion
"Promised Land" was released as free downloadable content for the video game Rock Band, which is shown being played in the movie.[8]
Chad Fischer also released a music video for the song "Tomorrow Never Comes" with his own lead vocals on YouTube.[9]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Tomorrow Never Comes" | Richard Ream / Robert Kuykendall | Teddy Geiger | 3:32 |
| 8. | "Too Far" | Fischer | Teddy Geiger | 3:25 |
| 9. | "I'm So Bitter" | Fischer | Teddy Geiger | 3:03 |
| 10. | "Promised Land" | Fischer / Tim Bright / Chris Link | Vesuvius | 3:39 |
| 11. | "Pompeii Nights" | Chicken / Link / Bright / Fischer | Vesuvius | 2:38 |
| 12. | "The Rocker Score Suite" | Fischer | Chad Fischer | 3:28 |
| Total length: | 38:41 | |||
Personnel
- drums, keyboards, glockenspiel, additional vocals
- lead vocals(tracks 1–9), additional guitar (track 7)
- Keith England – lead vocals(tracks 10–11)
- Alex Lilly – additional vocals (tracks 1–6, 8)
- Patrick Houlihan – bass and additional vocals (track 7)
- Tim Bright – guitar (tracks 10–11), keyboards (track 10)
- Chris Link – bass (track 11)
- Chicken – additional vocals (track 11)
- Mike Knobloch – cowbell (track 10)
- Cecilia Noël – additional vocals (track 10)
- Charissa Nielsen – additional vocals (track 10)
- mastering
- Maria Paula Marulanda – art direction
- George Kraychyk – stills photography[5]
Promotion
To promote the movie, the song "Promised Land", as performed by the fictional band Vesuvius, was released as free downloadable content for the video game Rock Band, which is shown being played in the movie.[10]
A
'The Rocker: Live The Dream' was a competition to promote the film via MySpace and
A Flash game titled The Rocker: TV Toss was also released. In the game, the player controls Fish (in 1st person view). The objective is to do damage to the hotel room by tossing TVs at various objects. The high score is calculated by means of the cost of objects damaged.
Reception
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 41% based on 123 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "With a predictable and lightweight story, the earnest efforts of the cast are squandered by The Rocker's bland script."[12] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[13] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[14]
Box office
The Rocker was released on August 20, 2008 in the USA. It was a bomb at the worldwide box office, opening outside the Top 10 at #12 with $2.64 million for its first weekend, grossing less than $7 million overall during its entire theatrical run.[1] One of the stars of the film, Emma Stone, had another film (The House Bunny) open the same weekend. It fared much better than The Rocker, opening at #2.
References
- ^ a b c The Rocker at Box Office Mojo
- ^ The Rocker locations, IMDb
- ^ "The Rocker Soundtrack Features Poison Cover". gearsofrock.com. August 19, 2008. Retrieved 2015-02-13.
- ^ "'Rocker' cast's sole real musician settled quickly into film". rgj.com. August 14, 2008. Retrieved 2015-02-13.
- ^ a b c d Personnel is taken from The Rocker: Music from the Motion Picture liner notes
- ^ The Rocker soundtrack, IMDb
- ^ Keith England MySpace page
- ^ "Song from movie The Rocker to hit Rock Band alongside Cruefest tracks". videogamesblogger.com. June 29, 2008. Retrieved 2015-02-13.
- ^ "Tomorrow Never Comes - Chad Fischer". youtube.com. August 5, 2008. Retrieved 2015-02-13.
- ^ "Song from movie The Rocker to hit Rock Band alongside Cruefest tracks". videogamesblogger.com. June 29, 2008. Retrieved 2015-02-13.
- MySpace blog of Jenna Fischer
- ^ The Rocker at Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ The Rocker, Metacritic
- ^ "Find CinemaScore" (Type "Rocker" in the search box). CinemaScore. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
External links
- The Rocker at IMDb
- The Rocker at AllMovie
