Rock Star (2001)

(In French, On Cable TV, June 2020) If you want to talk about wish fulfillment, the idea of becoming a rock star overnight is probably way up there for a lot of people, and Rock Star fully plays into that by telling us about a young musician who gets picked to headline an arena-filling band. (It’s based on a true story.) Mark Wahlberg, via his rap performing background, does have some credibility in the lead role, although his acting style isn’t always the best suited to the kind of character he plays here… and the vocal are dubbed. Jennifer Aniston is probably even worse: her girl-next-door looks are boring as usual despite the nature of the role demanding more. The plot is intensely familiar, but we’re really watching the film for the weird exuberant moments in-between the plot points where the rock god fantasy plays out in sex, drugs and rock and roll covers. That’s when Rock Star fares better, although its middle-American sensibilities (even with more bare breasts than I would have expected from its background actors) are so clearly milquetoast that there aren’t any really shocking moments here. For a film about metal, it’s usually far closer to rock stereotypes—but I say this knowing that I probably would have enjoyed the film more if I knew more about metal.