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Rock Star

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Rock Star (2001)

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Reviews Counted:119

Fresh:62

Rotten:57

Average Rating:5.4/10

Consensus: Like its title, Rock Star is rather generic, being not so much about the heavy metal scene than about rock cliches and formula.

Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Mark Wahlberg plays Chris Cole, a local guy from Pittsburgh who is a copy-machine repairman by day (still living at home), and the lead singer of Blood Pollution, a Steel Dragon tribute band, at... Mark Wahlberg plays Chris Cole, a local guy from Pittsburgh who is a copy-machine repairman by day (still living at home), and the lead singer of Blood Pollution, a Steel Dragon tribute band, at night. (Steel Dragon is a heavy-metal hair band living it big in the 1980s.) Cole prides himself on getting everything exactly right when he's onstage, every note, every costume, every shade of mascara; he even gets a nipple ring right after Steel Dragon's lead singer does. Chris's dream turns into reality when Steel Dragon fires its lead singer and brings Chris in to audition for the job. He gets the gig, but he also gets a lot more than he bargained for. Wahlberg is brilliant as Cole, playing the role to perfection, both as the young dreamer and the rock star living to excess. Jennifer Aniston is also excellent as Emily, his longtime girlfriend and manager who stands by him for as long as she can. The music nails the 1980s heavy-metal explosion, both in the original songs that Steel Dragon plays and the incidental music, from such groups as Kiss, Jon Bon Jovi, Ted Nugent, AC/DC, Motley Crue, and Dio. As good as Wahlberg and Aniston are, Timothy Spall, as Steel Dragon's manager, nearly steals the picture. ROCK STAR is an invigorating, intoxicating, thrilling ride of a movie; at times it even feels like it's the true story behind Spinal Tap. (In fact, it is loosely based on the true story of Ripper Owens and Judas Priest.) As an added bonus, the film features, in small roles, musicians who have played with such metalheads as Dokken, Slaughter, Ozzy Osbourne, and more. [More]

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Jennifer Aniston, Dominic West, Timothy Spall

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Jennifer Aniston, Dominic West, Timothy Spall, Rachel Hunter, Heidi Mark, Carrie Stevens, Jason Flemyng, Dagmara Dominczyk, Timothy Olyphant, Stephan Jenkins

Director: Stephen Herek

Director: Stephen Herek
Screenwriter: John Stockwell
Producer: Robert Lawrence, Toby Jaffe
Composer: Trevor Rabin
Studio: Warner Bros.

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Reviews for Rock Star

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101 - 120 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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Dissolves into lazy clichés and hollow moralizing.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
09/06/01
Tom Maurstad
Tom Maurstad
Dallas Morning News

A movie lampooning dimwitted '80s heavy-metal rockers was already made much more cleverly. It was called This Is Spinal Tap.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
09/06/01
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today

The erratic, cliched and superficial plot that can't seem to figure out where it wants to go or what it wants to prove or explore.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
09/06/01
Timothy Finn
Timothy Finn
Kansas City Star

Herek ... gets an excellent performance from Wahlberg.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
09/06/01
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press

A sordid, stupid and amusing little saga, about as nourishing as a big bag of Cheez Doodles and equally addicting.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
09/06/01
Jonathan Takiff
Jonathan Takiff
Philadelphia Daily News

The tone of Rock Star is perfectly balanced between affection for and satire of hair bands.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
09/06/01
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

It's the standard corruption-of-the-innocent routine.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
09/06/01
Jay Boyar
Jay Boyar
Orlando Sentinel

It's worth a matinee, and or a rental later on.

Full Review Source: Greenwich Village Gazette | comment Comment
09/06/01
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette

Provides a fair amount of shallow fun pretending that 1980s heavy metal was actually heavy.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
09/06/01
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly

The production's refusal to try anything edgy condemns Rock Star to the rock pile of cinematic mediocrity.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
09/06/01
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

Writer and director are content to plod the old walk of fame without much irony or questioning.

Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel | comment Comment
09/06/01
Sean Piccoli
Sean Piccoli
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

If the head-banging hype doesn't turn you off to Rock Star ... the hilarious miscasting and archaic rags-to-riches story line should do the trick -- and then some.

Full Review Source: San Jose Mercury News | comment Comment
09/06/01
Glenn Lovell
Glenn Lovell
San Jose Mercury News

Summons every cliche of the rock world and then clings to the hoary scenarios with the fiercest gravity.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
09/06/01
Steven Rea
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer

Its familiar story has pleasing quirks.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Observer | comment Comment
09/06/01
Lawrence Toppman
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer

As vacuous as the backstage glitz and debauchery it pretends to criticize.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
09/06/01
Rene Rodriguez
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald

If you don't leave Rock Star wanting to do some head-banging and squealing at the top of your lungs, well, you can always pop in an old Air Supply cassette.

Full Review Source: Contra Costa Times | comment Comment
09/06/01
Vera H-C Chan
Vera H-C Chan
Contra Costa Times

Herek's made a bloated concept album about faith and redemption and left off all the good songs -- the ones that make you wanna pump your fist in the air, wave your Bic and scream for vengeance.

comment Comment
09/06/01
Robert Wilonsky
Robert Wilonsky
New Times

Eventually everything becomes a generic Rock Star story.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
09/06/01
Mark Caro
Mark Caro
Chicago Tribune

Like the Muzak version of a Def Leppard hit.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
09/06/01
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN) | comment Comment
09/06/01
Bob Bloom
Bob Bloom
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)
 
 
101 - 120 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
all

Latest News for Rock Star

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This week at the movies, we've got four underdog stories. An average Joe tries to play pro football ("Invincible," starring Mark Wahlberg), the new kid in school tries... More...

August 29, 2001: Loosely based on the true story of a salesman who was tapped to front Judas Priest in 1996, this Behind the Music-flavored flick boasts appearances by metal gods from Dokken and Slaughter. Opens in new window
More...

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