Want to See A Movie With Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, and Olaf the Snowman’s Josh Gad?

Posted on March 21, 2015 at 8:00 am

I am quite fond of a little film from 2008 called “The Rocker,” starring Rainn Wilson. And it’s even more fun now, as three of its actors have become big stars. Wilson plays a drummer who was let go just before his group became hugely successful in 1998. Twenty years later, his life is a mess and he is living with his sister and her husband (Jane Lynch and Jeff Garlin). His nephew (Josh Gad) has a rock group called A.D.D. that will be performing at prom, and they need a drummer. The group takes off — in both senses of the word. Emma Stone plays the group’s bass player. And Bradley Cooper is unrecognizable under a massive wig in a brief but funny as a member of Wilson’s original band, along with Will Arnett and Fred Armisen. The cast also includes Demetri Martin as the director of A.D.D.’s music video, Jason Sudeikis as their manager, and Christina Applegate as the mother of A.D.D.’s frontman, real-life musician Teddy Geiger. It’s a lot of fun and the music is great.

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The Rocker

Posted on September 6, 2010 at 8:00 am

B-

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for drug and sexual references, nudity and language.
Profanity:	Strong and crude language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Adult character drinks a lot, some drug references
Violence/ Scariness:	Comic and slapstick violence, no one badly hurt
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	August 20, 2008
Date Released to DVD:	January 27, 2009
Amazon.com ASIN:	B001E95ZHY

Emma Stone’s breakthrough role in next week’s “Easy A” makes this a good time to look at some of her earlier work. She is terrific in this story of a high school rock group.

Pete Best, who was famously kicked out of The Beatles just before they brought on Ringo Starr and rocketed to international superstardom, appears as himself in this movie about a drummer who was kicked out of an 80’s hair band before they went on to such heights of international superstardom that they now speak with cheeky lower-class English accents, even though they came from Cleveland.

“The Office’s” Rainn Wilson plays “Fish,” the drummer still stuck in Cleveland, where the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame seems to be there just to remind him of how much he has lost. Fired from his job, dumped by his girlfriend, he is living in his sister’s attic when, 20 years after he last sat behind a drum kit, he gets one more chance to live the dream. His nephew’s band needs a drummer for the prom.

A video of Fish rehearsing in the nude becomes a viral sensation on YouTube and suddenly the group of three graduating high school seniors and a demented and bitter burn-out is on tour.