I saw The Rocker listed on On Demand and noticed it had Rainn Wilson in the cast. I often like him, though I don't watch The Office. Here he plays a drummer who's band ran away from him and became famous. Twenty years later he's in a dead end job. His nephew plays in a garage band who needs a drummer and Rainn steps in to beat those skins. The band gets some success and things go bad for a while only to end on a good note. A nice little movie that didn't do well when it was released in 2008. Worth a quick look but maybe not a purchase, at least for me. I already have a copy from On Demand. It made me think of a better rock'n'roll movie that I hadn't seen for a while and I watched that too.
Still Crazy is a 1998 movie about getting the 1970's band Strange Fruit back together. The guys had decided to call it quits, for a lot of reasons, and the 1977 Wisbeck Rock Festival is to be their last show. Lightning strikes the stage as they start and it's all over. Billy Connolly, the bands old roadie, narrates the opening scene at the concert, then we jump twenty years to the present day. Stephen Rea, the kyboardist, is approached by someone to get the band back together for the curent Wisbeck Festival. He gets help from Juliet Aubrey, who worked for the band in the 70's. She will come back if she can be the manager. They start collecting the band: Bill Nighy, the lead singer; Jimmy Nail, the bassist, Timothy Spall, the drummer; they all join up. No one knows where the lead guitarist Bruce Robinson is so they hire a young guy who can play. The band struggles in practice and on the mini tour. After some tough but funny set backs they start pulling together and finally play the Festival. Lightning doesn't strike and things might be good for the lads. Billy Connelly's voice over wonders: 'And how will the Fruits conspire to bollocks things up this time? We wait with baited breath...' It's was a total delight the first time and I've enjoyed it several times since. The story is solid and entertaining. The actors are all great, especially Bill Nighy and Billy Connolly. If you haven't seen it, and you like the rock'n'roll, it's well worth a look.
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