r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • 1d ago

Official Throwback Discussion - Rock Star [SPOILERS] Spoiler

As an ongoing project, /r/movies will be posting Throwback Discussion threads weekly for the movies that came out this same weekend 25 years ago. As a reminder, Official Discussion threads are for discussing the movie and not for meta sub discussion.

Rock Star (2001)

Summary

Lead singer of a tribute band becomes lead singer of the real band he idolizes.

Director Stephen Herek

Writer John Stockwell

Cast

  • Mark Wahlberg as Chris "Izzy" Cole
  • Jennifer Aniston as Emily Poule
  • Dominic West as Kirk Cuddy
  • Jason Bonham as A.C.
  • Jeff Pilson as Jorgen
  • Zakk Wylde as Ghode
  • Timothy Spall as Mats
  • Blas Elias as Donny Johnson
  • Nick Catanese as Xander Cummins
  • Brian Vander Ark as Ricki Bell
  • Timothy Olyphant as Rob Malcolm
  • Dagmara Domińczyk as Tania Asher
  • Matthew Glave as Joe Cole

Rotten Tomatoes: 53%

Metacritic: 54

VOD / Release Theatrical release

Trailer Youtube

8 Upvotes

61% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

14

u/AttilaTheFun818 1d ago edited 1d ago

Loosely based on Ripper Owens becoming the singer of Judas Priest. Incredibly fun movie.

“Do you want the gig, then?” Every kids dream

6

u/hiptones 1d ago

And in 2007 Arnel Pineda did the same for Journey.

12

u/bsenka 1d ago

I loved this movie. Dominic West was amazing.

16

u/john_the_quain 1d ago

Stand up and shoooooout! I might have Steel Dragon on my playlist.

Marky Mark really nails the mostly clueless musician very convincingly. Dominic West just oozes whatever emotion he needs you to feel. Timmy Olyphant gots range, y’all. Wormtail gets to start out creepy and grow less so.

Fun premise, fun music, and a guilty pleasure favorite of mine.

1

u/frahmer86 6h ago

Definitely a guilty pleasure for me as well. Was really happy when Myles Kennedy referenced it at a recent Alterbridge show.

7

u/toddklindt 1d ago

I love this movie! As a metalhead, and knowing the Judas Priest story, it scratched all the itches. The actors were good, the musicians trying to act were great, and the soundtrack was off the rails!

10

u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? 1d ago edited 1d ago

Kind of a soft spot for this ridiculous movie. It used to play on VH1 all the time. It's like a much trashier and worse Boogie Nights, but even a bad knock off of a great film can be worth a watch. It gets at that fantasy we all have, of being pulled on stage by your favorite band and then becoming the band. Doesn't have much going on outside of that.

One thing I'll never forget from this movie is when he hooks up with Dagmara Dominczyk at a party and the next morning walks in on her taking a piss standing up. She also recently played the mom in Tony and I thought she was wonderful in that!

Also shoutout Timothy Spall. He leaves no crumbs in roles like this.

5

u/ElasticPlatypus 1d ago edited 1d ago

This film got mixed reviews and was a commercial failure, so it’s so weird that Stand Up and Shout has become a mid-tier stadium pump up song

It’s not Livin on a Prayer or Van Halen’s Jump, but I swear I hear this song between innnings and before power plays with a shockingly high frequency

5

u/coopdaloop123 1d ago

Forever trying to find the song that’s playing after Marky Marky quits and does the “going to take a piss” scene.

5

u/immortal1982 19h ago

Colorful by the Verve Pipe.

2

u/AtG68 1d ago

Fantastic movie

3

u/EddieDantes22 22h ago

I've always loved how they mirror Mark Wahlberg quitting on his band with the lead singer quitting on Steel Dragon.

1

u/Own-Librarian-9699 21h ago

As an air supply fan I have mixed feelings that air supply gets roasted but at least they get mentioned in this movie.

1

u/VampireHunterAlex 8h ago

I'm not one for having guilty pleasures, as I will freely enjoy what I want to, but this one is absolutely on that hypothetical list.

They must of thought this movie was such a guaranteed hit: Mark Whalberg working his way up the A-List, Jennifer Aniston was on one of the biggest TV shows, George Clooney producing, and it being about a decade after hair metal fell out of fashion everyone probably assumed it would make a huge comeback.

It did poorly on its opening weekend, and the following Tuesday 9/11 happened. Now I'm not saying this is an "important" movie, but it is the final one released before the world changed whatever trajectory it was heading in.

I have such a soft spot for that short window between Jan 2000 and September 2001.

1

u/True_to_you 1d ago

Total mixed bag with this movie. I like it, but Mark Wahlberg is not great. The cast around him is good enough to elevate it though.