Reel Critic:

“The Rocker” is a tidy little redemption comedy that starts slowly but eventually builds into a very funny film with more than a few laugh-out-loud moments. Although this production is a bit reminiscent of “School of Rock,” a big hit for Jack Black a few years ago, “The Rocker” offers a fresh look at a high school rock band theme and what just might happen if the breaks go the right way.

Rainn Wilson, known currently for his role as the oddball Dwight in the TV sitcom hit “The Office” plays “Fish,” a 40-ish, lay-about-man-child who was a founding member of “Vesuvius,” a leather and leopard skin hair band from the mid-’80s. Fish is kicked out of the band in a business maneuver, and Vesuvius goes on to mega stardom with a new drummer, leaving poor Fish to spend the next 20 years wondering “What if?”

Now reduced to living in his sister’s attic, Fish becomes reacquainted with his nephew Matt (Josh Gad) who has organized a high school garage band named A.D.D. (Attention Deficit Disorder). Fish wangles his way into the band, and during a rehearsal via a split-screen computerized format, he mistakes the camera for a microphone and does his drumming in the nude. The tape of the botched rehearsal finds its way to YouTube, which causes a huge uproar with rock fans everywhere. A.D.D. and “The Naked Drummer” begin to find gigs, and the story takes off from there.

Director Peter Cattaneo, best known for his work on “The Full Monty,” has assembled a good young cast for “The Rocker.” Apart from Wilson, Teddy Geiger as Curtis is a real-life rock singer and Emma Stone, who is getting quite a lot of work lately, is Amelia, the pouty bass player.

Christina Applegate appears as Kim, Curtis’ mom, and it is always a pleasure to see her on the screen. She is the cool, understanding parent who had been an aspiring punk rocker a few years back and knows the disappointment of a career that never was. She is determined to let her son roll the dice for himself.

The music is hard-driving and catchy, and one can readily understand the sheer joy that musicians must feel when they are performing well to a receptive, eager audience. The film, though, revolves around Wilson’s hyperkinetic performance. Fish pounds the drums with a wicked, glassy-eyed leer as if he is having the time of his life, sending the audience into a frenzy that almost matches his own. Wilson takes a few head whacks and pratfalls, and he is literally not afraid to expose his own imperfections in order to draw a raucous laugh.

Rated PG-13 for brief nudity, drug use and salty language, “The Rocker” runs slightly longer than 1 1/2 hours and is playing citywide.

?JEFF KLEMZAK of La Crescenta has been a movie buff for years.