Rock Star

The highway to hell is paved with fan boy dreams and rock star paradises. One man walks the road, assuming he's found all he ever wanted. Mark Wahlberg, a man who has lived the rock star life, stars as a fan seeing his dreams come true.

Rock Star spins the tale of the ultimate 80's Metal fan Chris, who after years of devotion to his favorite metal group "Steel Dragon" is brought in to replace their prima donna lead singer. Chris is quickly sucked in to the sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll world, leaving behind the woman he cares about to sink into a pit of drunken debauchery.

Rock Star is a fan's movie. A music fan's movie. For all those people who are just like Chris, the people who live, breathe, and sleep rock and roll. It's the ultimate fan fantasy, the reality of the rock and roll road, the love lust and insanity of mind blowing stardom. But best of all, Rock Star doesn't try to teach us some sort of dumbass lesson. In the end the moral is simply that the rock and roll life isn't for everyone, even those who love it.

Even in moments of extreme depravity, Rock Star is still about joy. The joy of a fan living his fantasy, the joy of a kid getting everything he ever wanted. For once, Mark Wahlberg has managed to make a film that really showcases his talent. Even this Hobbit, reluctant to jump on the Marky Mark bandwagon, found himself easily won over by Chris's seemingly innocent charm.

This film could have been a nightmare. Another star might have made it into some sort of ego filling wet dream to set themselves up on a pedestal of greatness. Wahlberg however, simply tells a story, without dodging the truth and without forgetting to stop and smell the roses along the way.

Any film that rolls credits and leaves you feeling this satisfied deserves a hearty slap on the back. I for one strolled out of the theater, chuckling gleefully at out-takes featuring crew members doing Marky Mark impressions to old Funky Bunch songs and even an out-take of Wahlberg himself, slipping into some of his goofiest Marky Mark routines. Suddenly, I realized that even if Anniston's plays here character like Carol Channing trapped in the body of a 22 year old, Rock Star is one hell of a film.