The Rocker *
Peter Cattaneo, 2008
US
@ Regal Meridian
Charming and well-executed. What's really surprising is how infrequently anything gets overplayed. The three kids, for example, are all soft-spoken, and Jeff Garlin's father figure spends most of his screen time silently admiring his "rock star" brother-in-law. The confrontations are all basically polite, and the love interests tame. This is really admirable given that teenage fans of High School Musical and Hannah Montana (featuring some of the most outrageous overacting on televison) are probably at least one target demographic here.
I've been waiting for Jason Sudeikis to do something great onscreen for a little while now, particularly after his terrific stint on 30 Rock, and he doesn't disappoint. To be honest, Rainn Wilson might be the weakest link here. I think the supporting cast is all ready to play off of him, but he just doesn't provide enough charisma, particularly noticeable early on. Jack Black would be the obvious surrogate, given School of Rock, but there are probably others as well.
Two Ohio-specific notes: Wilson's character manages to mispronounce "Akron" fairly early in the movie, and he also waxes nostalgic about seeing metal bands at the Q back in his heyday (the mid-80's), but that arena didn't begin construction (as Gund Arena) until the early 1990's. Then again, the film was shot in Toronto, so regional specificity is something of a moot point anyway.
See also: IMDb | Metacritic
Peter Cattaneo, 2008
US
@ Regal Meridian
Charming and well-executed. What's really surprising is how infrequently anything gets overplayed. The three kids, for example, are all soft-spoken, and Jeff Garlin's father figure spends most of his screen time silently admiring his "rock star" brother-in-law. The confrontations are all basically polite, and the love interests tame. This is really admirable given that teenage fans of High School Musical and Hannah Montana (featuring some of the most outrageous overacting on televison) are probably at least one target demographic here.
I've been waiting for Jason Sudeikis to do something great onscreen for a little while now, particularly after his terrific stint on 30 Rock, and he doesn't disappoint. To be honest, Rainn Wilson might be the weakest link here. I think the supporting cast is all ready to play off of him, but he just doesn't provide enough charisma, particularly noticeable early on. Jack Black would be the obvious surrogate, given School of Rock, but there are probably others as well.
Two Ohio-specific notes: Wilson's character manages to mispronounce "Akron" fairly early in the movie, and he also waxes nostalgic about seeing metal bands at the Q back in his heyday (the mid-80's), but that arena didn't begin construction (as Gund Arena) until the early 1990's. Then again, the film was shot in Toronto, so regional specificity is something of a moot point anyway.
See also: IMDb | Metacritic
Labels: 1 Star, 2008, Peter Cattaneo, US
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home