Movie Review: Rock Star

In the movie "Rock Star" we see the personal struggles of living a dream.

"Rock Star" stars Mark Wahlberg as Chris Coles, whose life revolves around a band called Steel Dragon. Chris has a tribute band with the exact costumes, sounds and vocals of the real Steel Dragon. His room is covered with posters and cut outs of Steel Dragon singer Bobby Beers (Jason Flemyng) and copies the look with long hair, makeup, clothes and even piercing. The only difference between Bobby Beers and Chris Coles is that Chris is a dreamer and Bobby's a genuine rock star.

But Chris' dream becomes a reality when two friends tape him in performance and show the infamous Kirk Cuddy (Dominic West) how magnificent and talented Chris is. Through a twist of fate Chris gets the gig and becomes Steel Dragon's new singer, "Iggy."

Beside Chris "Iggy" Coles is his beautiful girlfriend/manager, Emily Poule (Jennifer Aniston). Emily has known Chris since high school and have been together all these years and through all the heartaches. When Chris gets his big break, Emily is right there lending support. Unfortunately the life of a rock star does not include girlfriends or wives. They are usually put on the back burner and are more for the paparazzi than anything else.

"Rock Star" is set in the '80s when fashion was hideous and screaming into a microphone was considered music. Since I was a child raised in the '80s and a teenager in the '90s, I couldn't appreciate the music or the symbolism as much as the people who have memories of that era.

I found "Rock Star" to be all right. Not a movie that I would pay and see but something that I think fans of heavy metal music would love. The cool thing about Rock Star is that they cast real musicians like Stephen Jenkins (Bradley), the lead singer and songwriter for Third Eye Blind.

Mark Wahlberg's performance was pretty good. With his Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch background he was a good choice for the role.

Of course, Jennifer Aniston acted as Chris' girlfriend Emily. Jennifer is typecast here, and, as usual, plays a role similar to "Rachel" on the hit sitcom Friends. I'm starting to get tired of it and I'm sure others are too. I would like to see Aniston in another role, maybe something more action-oriented or risky.

"Rock Star" is an average movie. I wouldn't have paid $12.50 to go watch this show but for those of you who like heavy metal and love the rock star scene I recommend it to you.

I give "Rock Star" 2.5 out of 5 stars.