![]() Note: ''Rock Star'' began production with the title ''Metal God,'' which is incomparably better at one point, it was called ''So You Want to be a Rock Star?"-the inspiration, no doubt, of a ratings-crazed executive who thought it could attract all the Regis Philbin fans. Where was the juice and joy? By the end of the film I conceded, yes, there are good performances and the period is well captured, but the movie didn't convince me of the feel and the flavor of its experiences. I began to feel that Izzy lacked the imagination to turn the situation into fun that his rigidity in insisting that Blood Pollution copy Steel Dragon note for note was translated as a kind of paralyzing inflexibility. Instead of the life and energy in a movie like ''Almost Famous,'' set in roughly the same period, there was a glum disconsolance. It stopped being an adventure and started being a parable. Until the halfway mark I approved of it, and then slowly my enthusiasm faded. Timothy Spall anchors this section of the film with his observant, solid performance as the manager, who sees all, knows all, tolerates all until it affects the box office.Īware that Emily feels shut out while groupies cluster around the band, he counsels her to ''build up a little tolerance to it, you know?'' Watching ''Rock Star'' was an instructive experience. Eventually we, and he, understand that who can be hired can be fired. We follow Izzy's adventures as a lead singer he falls down a flight of stairs on his first entrance, and makes a good impression by singing while blood runs down his forehead. ![]() This is not the way the tour works, and Emily is banned from the band bus she and the other wives and girlfriends trail behind in a stretch limousine, although an astrologer and a drag queen are allowed on the bus. Izzy brings Emily along (''we traded in the first class ticket for two tourist tickets''), and indeed plans on keeping her by his side during the whole adventure. The members of Steel Dragon are revealed, behind the scenes, to be cynical professionals who casually boot out Bobby Beers, see a tape of Izzy performing, fly him to L.A. One of the funniest scenes in the movie involves what appears to be a fight with a cop who breaks into Izzy's bedroom I won't spoil the punch-line. ![]() The best parts of the movie are the early ones, as Izzy fights with his band, stands by his dream, and is supported by his girlfriend Emily ( Jennifer Aniston), who at one point goes beyond the call of duty by piercing his nipple so he can wear a ring just like his idol Bobby Beers, the lead singer in Steel Dragon. ![]() Most of the film's other details are, I imagine, fiction-but they portray a world which must be more or less the same for many bands, involving the ordeal of touring, personality clashes, the danger of violence, unhappy relationships, omnipresent groupies, and managers who must be liars, thieves, drug counselors and psychoanalysts, to keep the show on the road. An Ohio office supply salesman named Tim ''Ripper'' Owens actually did replace Rob Halford, the lead singer in Judas Priest, after warming up as lead singer in a tribute band. Miraculously, the lead singer of Steel Dragon is in the process of being kicked out, and the band sees one of Izzy's tapes and hires him as a replacement singer. Eventually his fanaticism makes him such a nuisance that his own band fires him. ![]() He idolizes the band Steel Dragon, and insists that his band do only their songs, and only in the exact way they perform them (''You're not nailing the squeal,'' he tells a guitarist during rehearsal). I really enjoyed everything about this film, they did a phenomenal job at everything, the plot, the abilities, the awareness, the fact the man was a boxer turned priest is mindblowing but this indeed was a perfect film with a perfect cast and crew.Wahlberg plays Chris ''Izzy'' Coles, a Pittsburgh office supplies salesman who sings in the church choir, loves and is loved by his parents and a loyal girlfriend, and leads a local tribute band named Blood Pollution. In the case of Rock Star ’s premise, just swap Owens for Cole and Judas. Owens spent time fronting Priest tribute band British Steel before replacing Rob Halford and teaming up with his childhood idols in 1996. This movie did a great job highlighting the disease inclusion body myositis, a degenerative muscle disease that renders him disabled but that does not stop his awakening to his great spiritual journey. Telling the story of Chris ‘Izzy’ Cole, Rock Star is said to be inspired by ex- Judas Priest frontman Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens. Mel Gibson is also a great actor that needed the right redemption to truly remind us why we call these men actors, I was very intrigued within the story, I do like a good true story film and this one was remarkable. I'll be honest I was blown away with the weight gain Wahlberg went through for this movie as well as the raw emotions shown within it. Stuart Long was the kind of man you had to make a movie about and who better to play him than the great Mark Wahlberg. ![]()
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