Of course, what would a movie about rocking be without music? The original songs are actually the one thing this movie gets right in that they really do sound like they were written by teenagers in that they really suck.
You'd think a film that's so nakedly trying to ride to profitability on the popularity of the Guitar Hero and Rock Band video games (seriously, the kids in the film look like they could be right out of either of those games) would at least make an effort to make sure that when a character is shown playing a video game that there is some synchronization between what the character is doing and what's happening on the TV screen. Characters in The Rocker actually set down video-game controllers and look away from the TV during several scenes while the game apparently continues to play by itself on the screen. It makes the "surprise" ending [spoiler alert] of having Vesuvius getting caught lip-synching on stage all the less affecting after watching the movie do the same thing itself beforehand.
The Rocker - Born to Rock Special Edition DVD sports a bevy of bonus features, though if you can stomach sitting through a single one of them after watching the duration of this turd of a film, you're a better man than I. There's two commentary tracks, one with Wilson and director Peter Cattaneo and the other with the three teen actors, (I didn't listen to them but somehow I get the feeling that neither of these commentaries will feature anyone talking about how this film really "got away" from all of them). There's also deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes documentaries (including one where everyone just gushes about how excited they were to work with Wilson in the film), several gag-inducing gag reels, podcasts, an interview with Pete Best, music videos and more.
Article comments
1 - Ben
It's another of those movies that had an interesting idea that was toned down way too far. It could have been a more personal take on School Of Rock, but it failed. Had the plot been better, I think that Wilson would have been good for the role.