THE ROCKER

Man, it must feel good to be a rock star. Like, the pre-washed-up kind. Not the Winehouse version. At least, that's what the latest "old enough for adults to love, but you can still market me to kids" comedy from Fox is touting. And after watching the flicka, I can't help but agree.

The appeal of THE ROCKER is not immediately apparent. Sure, it features Rain Wilson of "The Office (An American Workplace)" fame, but he's not quite reprising the same role. As a washed-up has-been rocker given a second chance at rockerdom via his nerdy, slightly obese nephew's inexplicably good garage band--like really, how did these three find each other?--Wilson's character, Fish, has the chance of a lifetime. Everyone's dream. Every person who works a desk job will envy him. And every person who works a fun job will envy him, too, because let's face it: there's no job more romantic than the Way of the Rock Star.

The movie is goofy and off-beat and sometimes a little too dumb to be funny, but as a whole, it still left me smiling. The music is good, the cast of principles--minus nephew and uncle--is good-looking, the acting is humorous and the level of fantastic is redeemably real. You can go "No way, all of this from a YouTube post?" but nod your head to the beat. You can go, "What about going to college? Did they miss their own graduation?" and still tap your toes. You can wonder, "If the lead and the back-up singer, Curtis and Amelia, start dating, but Curtis eventually falls for a groupie and the two of them break up, will the band eventually peter out of existence like so many sad acts before them?" but still smile when Amelia smiles. 'Cause who can't smile at young love?

But speaking of Amelia, played by Emma Stone: wow, Ms. Stone. You're all over the place. Are you replacing Lindsay Lohan in the Young, Unsullied Hottie with Red Hair category? SUPERBAD discovered you, but now we've got THE ROCKER, and in a couple weeks, we're getting THE HOUSE BUNNY. Your movie choices...diverse. But exposure, you're getting, so kudos to you. Now let's hope we see a bit more of Teddy Geiger...cutting his hair.

plot: Some ARE born to rock.
thought: But what happens post-tour?
in five: 3.5/5

rock out: http://www.rockermovie.com/