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Laramie Movie Scope:
Rock Star

Rock and roll dreams and nightmares

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by Robert Roten, Film Critic
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September 11, 2001 -- "Rock Star" is a good idea for a movie, and is well executed with solid acting, music and production values.

The story has a singer in a small time rock band Chris "Izzy" Coles (played by Mark Wahlberg of "Planet of the Apes") rising to sudden superstardom in the rock world when he joins "Steel Dragon," a band he has idolized for years. Coles had been playing in a Steel Dragon "tribute" band called "Blood Pollution," before being hired to be the lead vocalist for "Steel Dragon." It seems that his wildest dreams have come true. He's rich and famous, making records and appearing in concerts.

Something seems wrong from the very beginning, however, as Coles sees a chilling similarity between his departure from Blood Pollution and the departure of the Steel Dragon's previous lead singer, Bobby Beers (Jason Flemyng of "Snatch"). Beers issues an ominous warning to Coles as he leaves the band. With fame also comes an out-of-control lifestyle with sex, booze and drugs. He begins to grow distant from his girlfriend and manager played by Jennifer Aniston of "Office Space." He begins to wonder if he is living the right dream after all.

The compelling thing about the movie is the basic idea. Millions of people share the fantasy of imagining themselves on stage, performing to the cheers of a huge audience. It is a great idea to explore what would happen if a fairly average guy were to be able to live that dream. There's a nice symmetry to the story as Coles is kicked out of Blood Pollution because he wants to perform exact duplicates of Steel Dragon hits and he opposes band members writing and performing their own songs. Later, Coles is frustrated when he is not allowed to perform any of his own music in Steel Dragon, a band that has become artistically stagnant. He sees reflections of himself in many ways and similarities between himself and Beers. The film is rich in this kind of irony, even if it does lack subtlety. The message is simple, as Shakespeare said, "To thine own self be true."

While the basic concept is well-executed, it is not all that emotionally compelling. The turning point in Coles' Steel Dragon career is not well-defined. On the whole, however, this is a solid film, if not excellent. Wahlberg does a good job as the central character. Timothy Spall of "Topsy Turvy" turns in a wonderful performance as "Mats" the sad, debauched, but wise Steel Dragon band manager. There are some good scenes between Wahlberg and Spall as they talk about choices they have made and opportunities they have missed. Aniston gives a very soulful performance in the film. Great depths of feeling seem to well up from deep within her, love, joy, sadness, compassion, resignation and pain seem to flow across her face. She's very a compelling screen presence.

Director Stephen Herek ("Mr. Holland's Opus," "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure") does a good job with the material. The original music by Trevor Rabin and Brian Vander Ark (who wrote the song "Colorful") is appropriate for a hard rock movie. A number of people who really are rock and roll musicians appear in the film, including, Jason Bonham, who plays A.C. (had his own band, is now with "Healing Sixes") Nick Catanese plays Xander Cummins (guitarist for Black Label Society), Blas Elias plays Donny (drummer for Slaughter), Stephan Jenkins plays Bradley (plays for Third Eye Blind), and Jeff Pilson plays Jorgen (played for Dokken and Dio). This film rates a B.

Click here for links to places to buy this movie in video and/or DVD format, the soundtrack, books, even used videos, games and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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Copyright © 2001 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.
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Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at my last name at lariat dot org. [Mailer button: image of letter and envelope]

(If you e-mail me with a question about this or any other movie or review, please mention the name of the movie you are asking the question about, otherwise I may have no way of knowing which film you are referring to)