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'The Rocker'

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BY RAFER GUZMÁN | rafer.guzman@newsday.com

August 20, 2008

' The Rocker," a comedy in which old-school rock meets new-school pop, gets off to a promising start with a familiar countdown: "1-2-3-4!" That's about as authentic as the movie gets, but it has a good beat and you can laugh to it.

Set in Cleveland - home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum - the film opens in 1986 as drummer Robert "Fish" Fishman (Rainn Wilson of NBC's " The Office") and his burgeoning hair-band, Vesuvius, teeter on the brink of major-label success. The only catch: The suits want a new drummer. Faster than you can say "Pete Best" (the Beatles' original drummer, fittingly enough, had a brief cameo excised from this movie) Fish is out of the band.

Two decades later, the embittered Fish gets a second chance at stardom. His teenage nephew, Matt (Josh Gad), plays keyboards in a band called A.D.D. with brooding singer Curtis (real-life pop star Teddy Geiger) and a punky chick bassist (a likable Emma Stone), but no drummer. When the 40-ish Fish (who likes to practice naked) joins the youngsters, he turns out to be just the kind of gimmick record labels drool over. As A.D.D. climbs the precarious ladder of fame, Fish must give up his wild lifestyle - especially if he wants to score with Curtis' pretty mom ( Christina Applegate).

"The Rocker" lacks the musical credibility of a classic like "This Is Spinal Tap," or even last year's underrated "Walk Hard," because director Peter Cattaneo and his three writers deal in generics. Vesuvius is a hastily sketched composite (though Will Arnett is a treat as the preening singer) and the music-biz villains are stock characters. Wilson, as Fish, isn't quite believable as a nonstop party animal; his delicate drumming style is more Ringo Starr than John Bonham. "The Rocker" qualifies as a B-side, but it still makes for a passable summer single.

(PG-13)

PLOT Robert Fish, a former drummer still stuck in the '80s, gets a second chance at stardom with his young nephew's pop-rock band.

CAST Rainn Wilson, Teddy Geiger, Christina Applegate, Josh Gad

LENGTH 1:42

PLAYING AT Area theaters

BOTTOM LINE More a B-side than a hit single, but " The Rocker" squeaks by with its upbeat tempo.