Plot: What’s it about?
Rock Star brings out the age-old plot of the ups and downs of a small man realizing his dreams — perhaps they aren’t all he imagined them to be. While John Stockwell’s script is not particularly interesting and in fact moves rather slowly — every typical high and low of the rock star lifestyle is hit — director Stephen Herek (Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Holy Man) uses various film techniques to make the story tolerable. But in truth, the real saving grace is pair of genuine and believable performances from stars Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston.
This music industry tale is loosely inspired by the true story of the heavy metal band Judas Priest. For the Hollywood version, the protagonist is Chris Cole (Mark Wahlberg) a wannabe rock star who is a copy machine repairman by day. By night, he’s the lead singer of Blood Pollution, a Pennsylvania tribute band that imitates the best-selling heavy metal rockers of Steel Dragon. But the band’s troubles begin as Chris and his bass player (Timothy Olyphant, Gone in 60 Seconds) have different opinions on what the band should play, and eventually the band members hire their rivals’ lead singer (Stephen Jenkins of real-life pop group Third Eye Blind) behind Chris’s back. Since Chris is the one that founded the band, he’s understandably hurt by their decision, and so he and Emily (Jennifer Aniston), the band’s manager and Chris’s girlfriend, leave to pursue other ventures. But his sulking does not last long — soon after leaving Blood Pollution, he’s hired to replace the lead singer of Steel Dragon, and Chris starts living his dream as a rock star. Of course, he finds out soon enough that being a superstar has its disadvantages.
Writer John Stockwell (prior to his he directed the teen romance Crazy/Beautiful) goes through the motions of the celebrity dream, and it’s never clear as to whether it’s a lack of creativity on his part or merely a desire to give audiences what they want. But it’s rare to see a Hollywood story that’s twisted in a way so as to make the viewer feel differently about the situation, so it’s more likely that Stockwell went with what people know. His writing might be described by a line of his dialogue — “You got to give the people what they want” — because it’s unfortunately true the majority of the time.
The movie’s few surprises come in the form of Herek’s direction, Wahlberg’s acting, and an enjoyable music set. First, director Herek was able to shake up the tempo throughout the film to make it seem more than just a wannabe who got to be. He incorporates a This Is Spinal Tap feel to the film with an interview format at the beginning and end, and indeed, it provides some laughs as well as insights on the characters. Herek and cinematographer Ueli Steiger (Just Visiting, Austin Powers 2) also turned up the film speed at certain times — during the opening credits, for example — and slowed it down at others for dramatic effect. To his credit, Herek made sure something was always happening in front of the camera, and for that, I stayed awake.
Principally it was Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston in front of the camera. They played convincing characters, and for that, I cared what happened to them, despite the fact that their outcome was fairly predictable. Wahlberg, from head to toe, was entrenched in his own character as well as the characters around him, and together, Wahlberg and Aniston shared many genuine moments of passion and distress. When the “enlightenment” scene takes place, it seems a bit corny, but Wahlberg and his road manager (Timothy Spall, Chicken Run) pull it off nicely. It has a Good Will Hunting touch to it and might appear like a complete rip off, but with the appropriate finesse, it works.
Probably most importantly, though, songs and lyrics play a large role in this picture — The Talking Heads’ “As the Days Go By” narrates many of the scenes and actions that beautifully. Far and away, it is music and dreaming the impossible dream that drive this film, and while it may be an impossible dream for Rock Star to affect many viewers, it’s still an entertaining piece of cinema.
Video: How does it look?
Rock Star is shown in a 2.35:1 anamorphic presentation, which by all means, looks great. Warner’s DVD’s (like New Line’s) seem to just look a bit better than some of the others out there. The colors used are very rich and vibrant, not “in your face” vibrant like it’s a big circus, but the cover of the DVD should give you a good idea of what to expect. Black levels are right on target and I noticed no artifacting or edge enhancement at all. Flesh tones seem to appear normal and I know I say this a lot, but I couldn’t really find anything wrong with the transfer. As we know, though, the absence of error doesn’t make it perfect. But it’s real close!
Audio: How does it sound?
For a movie about a rock band, one should expect a (pardon the pun) rockin’ soundtrack. This is what we get with the Dolby Digital 5.1 track. The songs sound great as the ambiance of the music radiates through all five channels. The surrounds are almost constantly in use and the dialogue is not distorted in any way. It’s a well-known fact that some of the best-sounding DVD’s are those of concerts (James Taylor, Queen and so on) well, this movie is essentially one big concert, so expect a very active soundtrack.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Featuring some extras, this is enough to entice the casual viewer to maybe pick up a copy of the movie. The commentary from Director Stephen Herek is about average. He is full of information and obviously proud of his work here, but doesn’t add a whole lot of information. He does advise the viewer to freeze-frame the screen in a certain spot in order to get a better look at Jennifer Aniston’s breasts! I wonder what Mrs. Brad Pitt thought of that comment? Hmmm….Aside from the commentary, there is a four minute featurette “Rock Star: A Backstage Look At a Legend” which is essentially a four-minute piece of fluff that is ever so common on DVD’s these days. A music video (how odd) is also included by Everclear entitled (cleverly enough) Rock Star. Some Cast Bios and a theatrical trailer presented in anamorphic widescreen are also included.
