The Rocker

The Rocker

Starring: Rainn Wilson (The Office’s Dwight), Christina Applegate, Josh Gad,

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for drug and sexual references, nudity and language

Rainn Wilson is hilarious in The Rocker. This is School of Rock meets the Office; and while not as good as School of Rock, The Rocker is still a hilarious film with good music and fun acting. This is more of a snack film as far as movies go. I was in the mood for a light hearted film without any serious undertones and this movie is just that. It is as light as The Office and follows very much in this sort of comedic genre.

What is good about the Rocker is Rainn Wilson. He uses the bizarre and eccentric humor of Dwight to make his character Fish into a 40 year old that never really grew up. Fish got booted at a young age from a band that is supposed to be the fictional version of Aerosmith or something like that. The group goes big because they ditched Fish and now Rainn Wilson’s character is plagued daily by the fact that he could have been in the world’s greatest band. Fish’s second chance comes as he becomes the drummer for his nephew’s high school band; he takes the kids on tour and learns a little bit about growing up.

This film could have been just another one of those lame movies about adults who just can’t seem to grow up, and it kind of was. It was different because there is a lot of maturity shown by the kids to counter balance the rampant foolishness we see in Wilson’s character. Wilson and the kids are all pretty funny and they do a good job in the film. Again it is not a brilliant movie, but it is fun to watch. If you like Rainn Wilson then don’t miss this movie, if you like The Office, again this is a winner. If you are looking for a meaty film that you can dwell on the intellectual and moral questions that are brought up… then go read a book, because this is not for you. We’ve got a 7 out of 10 here; nothing earth shattering as far as cinematography goes, but this is a pretty fun film.

Sex/Nudity – 5 out of 10 – We see a man’s bare buttocks and he drums naked with conveniently placed objects hiding private areas. We also see a man in his underwear and a close up of a man’s crotch (he is hearing leopard print pants). There is teen kissing and a man talks about his desire to have sex with a woman (he is rather explicit in his talk).

Violence/Gore – In a very cartoon style a man attacks a group of men driving a van. He is struck by the van and thrown from it a few times, but he gets up every time and there is no blood or damage at all. There is other scenes of slapstick comedy involving falling, hitting his head, spraining ankles, wrists, and other caricatures of injuries.

Profanity – 1 or 2 mouthed or uttered “F” words. I wouldn’t have caught them if I had not had the subtitles on. There are a few other swear words maybe 25 or so in total.