It’s Rainn Wilson’s great misfortune to be a part of one of network television’s best comedy ensembles (and that Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf episode of The Office finally convinced me that it’s right up there with 30 Rock and 60 Minutes); now, whenever he stoops to starring in a broad comedy pitched to a slightly less sophisticated audience, we’ll feel like he’s selling himself short when he’s really buying himself a nice house.
Though the trailer for The Rocker goes dreadfully heavy on trite slapstick, there’s still reason to suggest that it might turn out better than Airheads. For starters, it’s directed by Academy Award-nominee Peter Cattaneo, who followed up his Full Monty triumph with two low-key indies; he could’ve gone Hollywood a decade ago, so… maybe he was waiting for the right project? And maybe it was this formulaic second-chance comedy from the capable screenwriting duo of Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky (she worked on Larry Sanders; he wrote a number of “Golden Age” Simpsons episodes, including “Last Exit to Springfield”)? I
On the plus side, the trailer sports an effective Terminator 2 gag (albeit, one that was funnier with Principal Skinner on The Simpsons) and a preponderance of Emma Stone (Jonah Hill’s unbearably cute love interest from Superbad). Despite the worst efforts of Fox Marketing, this could be worthwhile.
Take your chances this August 1st.