RHYTHM OF RAINN LENDS HUMOR TO 'THE ROCKER'.Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor Rainn Wilson Rainn Dietrich Wilson (pronounced "Rain") (born January 20, 1966) is an Emmy-nominated and two-time Screen Actors Guild Award winning American actor. He is known for his roles as the neurotic Dwight Schrute on the American television comedy The Office, gives a comic beat to "The Rocker," a movie that is otherwise the equivalent of generic rock. The filmmakers probably had Will Ferrell John William "Will" Ferrell (born July 16, 1967[1]) is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated American comedian, impressionist, writer and actor who first established himself as a cast member of Saturday Night Live, on their wish list to play Robert "Fish" Fishman, a man who has had to tamp down Verb 1. tamp down - press down tightly; "tamp the coffee grinds in the container to make espresso" tamp, pack compress, pack together, compact - make more compact by or as if by pressing; "compress the data" his dream to be a rock 'n' roll rock 'n' roll: see rock music. star for 20 years, but "The Office" star brings a nice human touch to the role, along with some laughs. You see, as a youth Fish had been the drummer in a heavy-metal band named Vesuvius that was poised on the brink of stardom. He gets dumped when a record company offers the band a deal, but only if they'll use an exec's nephew on drums. A couple of decades later, Vesuvius is mega-big and headed for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, dedicated to recording the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, and other people who have in some major way influenced the music industry, particularly in induction. Fish is in Cleveland in a dead-end job, from which he gets fired, and then his girlfriend kicks him out of their apartment. Forced to move in with his sister (Jane Lynch Jane Lynch (born on July 14, 1960, in Dolton, Illinois) is an American writer, actress and comedienne. Biography Youth Raised in Illinois, she received her bachelor's degree in theater from Illinois State University and her MFA from Cornell University, also in ) and her family -- he sleeps in the attic In the Attic can refer to:
His nephew, Matt (Josh Gad), loses the drummer for his band, A.D.D., that is about to play a high-school dance. So they hold tryouts, but Uncle Fish proves the best option, especially after he awakes from a stupor stupor /stu·por/ (stoo´per) [L.] 1. a lowered level of consciousness. 2. in psychiatry, a disorder marked by reduced responsiveness.stu´porous stu·por n. , stumbles down from the attic and scares off an auditioner with a drum machine drum machine n. An electronic device containing a sequencer that can be programmed to arrange and alter digitally stored drum sounds. drum machine Noun in an amusing scene that will have some people cheering. Despite its name, A.D.D. is a smooth pop-emo band headed by singer-songwriter-guitarist Curtis (Teddy Geiger) and bass player Amelia (Emma Stone); so you know that musical styles are going to clash. And they do when Fish's out-of-control heavy-metal instincts take over when the band plays the school dance. He's kicked out of the band -- and he's kicked out of his sister's house. But Fish is a man who desperately wants to live his dream and nothing will stop him, even though he has now moved into the steaming-hot, rat-infested basement of a sushi restaurant. He eventually convinces the group to take him back, though they are forced to practice separately, linked up by computer-video. (Did we mention the kids are all whizzes?) Because of the heat, Fish plays naked, and when Matt's younger sister posts a video on YouTube of the bare-ass drummer and the band, suddenly A.D.D. is hot. (Some of the music-industry stuff in "The Rocker" is pretty imaginary, but dumber acts have become real hits because of the video Web site.) The movie plays most of the expected riffs -- there are conflicts within the band (not to mention with their parents), and A.D.D. will ultimately cross paths with Vesuvius. The kids and the music are pretty much right out of "High School Musical" casting, so watching Wilson work his lunacy lunacy: see insanity. as Fish is the real fun. Ferrell would likely have made Fish bigger than life, like Ricky Bobby in "Talledega Nights." But that was a raunchy raun·chy adj. raun·chi·er, raun·chi·est Slang 1. a. Obscene, lewd, or vulgar: "[He] comedy in which Ferrell was the star. The innocuous "The Rocker" seems mostly aimed at tweeners (Geiger is a bit of a youth heartthrob), with Wilson as comic relief. But at least he makes us care about Fish, a man caught between his youthful fantasy and the hard reality of aging and having to earn a living -- as much as he'd like to ignore the latter and plunge into the former. While Wilson can play funny, he also makes Fish recognizable as a "I coulda been a contender" middle-ager. Too bad "The Rocker" didn't give Wilson more support, but then drum solos can only carry you so far. Rob Lowman (818) 713-3687 robert.lowman@dailynews.com THE ROCKER - Two and one half stars >PG-13: drug and sexual references, nudity, language. >Starring: Rainn Wilson, Teddy Geiger, Emma Stone, Josh Gad, Christina Applegate, Jane Lynch, Jeff Garlin. >Director: Peter Cattanneo. >Running time: 1 hr. 42 min. >Playing: Area wide. >In a nutshell: Wilson is better than the material. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Rainn Wilson is Robert "Fish" Fishman, a one-time heavy-metal drummer with a 20-year dream of rock-band fame and fortune, in "The Rocker." |
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