I've been trying all day to think of an album equivalent to The Rocker, but I can’t come up with a record title that’s widely recognized as being only half-worthwhile. Here’s the best way to put it – think of a musician or band that you really consider talented and burn together a mix tape that alternates between their best tracks and their absolute worst. The Rocker is a frustrating comedy, one that can't completely be written off as trash because of the pedigree of the people involved, but a movie that also features some jokes and scenes that hit the floor with the thud of a bass drum. The timing is a bit off with this routine, even if there are a few solos that totally kick ass.

The Office's Rainn Wilson makes his run for theatrical comedy success in the role of Robert "Fish" Fishman, the talented skins man for the 80s hair band Vesuvius (which features, hilariously, Will Arnett, Fred Armisen, and Bradley Cooper). A record exec comes to Vesuvius and offers them a breakthrough deal, but they have to axe Fish. Twenty years later, Vesuvius is the biggest band in the world, and "Fish" is working a dead-end, office job that he hates. After losing it at his day gig, "Fish" moves in with his sister (Jane Lynch), brother-in-law (Jeff Garlin), and nephew Matt (Josh Gad), who just happens to be in a teen rock band called A.D.D., a band that just happens to need a new drummer. The rock star that never was joins A.D.D. and teaches the kids a few lessons about rock 'n' roll along the way, which, of course, leads up to the inevitable success that anyone who has ever seen a movie knows will eventually greet the young band. And, as you could probably guess, one of his band-mate's mothers just happens to be the super-cute Christina Applegate, a perfect love interest for our gawky hero.

Clearly, The Rocker does not have the most original screenplay of the year. Elements lifted from other music and man-child movies continuously derail the awkward and often derivative script, but the cast nearly holds it together. Wilson gives the role his physical all, and Lynch, Garlin, Arnett, Armisen, Cooper, and even Jason Sudeikis rock the supporting cast. Sudeikis, in particular, steals the movie as a total a-hole of an agent. He’s the only one who makes all of his jokes work. Even the young cast holds their own - Gad, Emma Stone, and Teddy Geiger are given roles far deeper than teen stars usually play in physical comedies like this one. Unlike truly awful comedies like The Love Guru, Over Her Dead Body, or the filmography of Dane Cook, The Rocker never inspires loathing of the people involved. They all make it out completely unscathed.

However, what The Rocker proves is that an immensely likable cast is not enough to make a complete comedy. Writers Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky don't provide their band with enough original material and instead fall back on ridiculously stupid gross-out humor way too often. A famous critic (who will remain nameless) has compared The Rocker to The 40-Year-Old Virgin and School of Rock, and he may be able to draw thematic or character comparisons between the three movies, but the script for The Rocker doesn't even come close to those two great screenplays and, even in comedy, it's all about the words. The musicians can be the most talented in the world, but if they're not given the right songs to sing, it simply doesn't matter. Director Peter Cattaneo (who hasn't really done much since The Full Monty over a decade ago) doesn't help the beat, awkwardly transitioning between emotional moments that just don't work and physical comedy that feels unnecessary. When Wilson and the great supporting cast around him do strike realistic chords, The Rocker almost works, but there are enough missed notes in this nearly-good comedy that they probably should have spent more time in the studio.

Rating: TWO BONES

  Reviewed by Brian Tallerico (MovieRetriever.com Film Critic)

Release Date: August 20, 2008

Rating: PG-13

Starring: Rainn Wilson, Christina Applegate, Teddy Geiger, Josh Gad, Emma Stone, Jeff Garlin, Jane Lynch, Jason Sudeikis, Will Arnett, Fred Armisen, Howard hesseman, and Bradley Cooper

Director: Peter Cattaneo

Writer: Maya Forbes & Wallace Wolodarsky