Line #5 Film/RockStar


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rock_star.jpg]]
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3	''Rock Star'' is a 2001 comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Herek and starring Creator/MarkWahlberg as Chris "Izzy" Cole, the lead singer of a tribute band who becomes lead singer of the real band he idolizes. This movie explores the rabid popularity and backstage excesses of the HairMetal bands that dominated 1980s music.
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6	!!This film contains examples of:
7	* APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy: The party that occurs after Chris' first performance with Steel Dragon.
8	* TheAllegedCar : The band is shown pushing the car to get it started, although Emily's little orange number apparently gets her all the way to Seattle.
9	* AlliterativeName: Chris Cole, Bobby Beers, and (sound-wise) Kirk Cuddy.
10	* ArmoredClosetGay: Steel Dragon's original singer. Also, according to WordOfGod (on the commentary), Bradley, the rival singer who replaces Chris in Blood Pollution.
11	* ArtisticLicenseMusic: It's very unlikely that Bobby Beers would be able to hear Chris singing along to "Stand Up and Shout" over the band's PA system and front stage monitors.
12	* AscendedFanboy: The plot: Chris was the lead singer of a tribute band for his favorite band before he becomes lead singer of the real band.
13	* BasedOnATrueStory: The story is based on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_%22Ripper%22_Owens Tim "Ripper" Owens]], who was in a Music/JudasPriest tribute band before joining Judas Priest itself. To hammer the point home, the working title of the film (seen on the clapper on outtakes on the [=DVD=]) was Metal God. "Metal God" is the nickname of Rob Halford, the man Owens replaced.
14	* BasementDweller: Although he doesn't live in the basement, pre-fame Chris Cole is a grown man who still lives with his parents (a fact that his police officer brother loves pointing out), and his bedroom walls are covered in Steel Dragon posters.
15	%%* BigBrotherMentor: Mats.
16	* BingeMontage: Happens while Steel Dragon is on tour and living the rock and roll lifestyle.
17	* {{Bookends}}: Chris impresses the lead singer by singing along at a concert; a fan later does the same thing to him.
18	* BlatantLies: The singer of Black Babylon, the other tribute band, claims that his father KnowsAGuyWhoKnowsAGuy and got him the actual jacket Bobby wore on tour. Chris and Emily call him out on it for being entirely the wrong color.
19	* BritishRockstar: Most of the other members of Steel Dragon, although Ghode (the other guitarist, played by [[Music/BlackLabelSociety Zakk Wylde]]) is American, as evidenced by his New Jersey accent.
20	* TheCameo: Part of the fun of the movie is its cast of rock stars, including an appearance from [[Music/AlterBridge Myles Kennedy]] when he was just some guy in a band.
21	* CampGay: Bobby Beers behaves like a total diva when he is fired from Steel Dragon. [[spoiler: In the closing credits, we see that he has abandoned rock music and become a Michael Flatley-like professional dancer.]]
22	* ControlFreak: Chris' insistence that Blood Pollution play the songs ''exactly'' the same way Steel Dragon does, as well as refusing to let his bandmates play original songs, eventually results in him being kicked out of the band.
23	* CoolOldGuy: Mats, the road manager for Steel Dragon. He becomes somewhat of a mentor to Chris, giving him advice on how to adapt to the lifestyle of a famous rock star. WordOfGod on the DVD says he was envisioned as a "demented Obi Wan Kenobi."
24	* CreativeClosingCredits: Along with some HilariousOuttakes, it's revealed Bobby Beers joined a Scottish dance troupe, and while [[ActorAllusion Marky Mark's "Good Vibrations" plays,]] [[SelfDeprecation Chris breakdances and says "No more of this metal shit,]] [[OldShame hip-hop is where it is!"]].
25	* DeadpanSnarker: Emily is one of these. So is Bobby.
26	--> Chris: Wait, you're gay?
27	--> Bobby: No, I bought a house in Morocco and pierced both my nipples because I'm John [[PrecisionFStrike Fucking]] Wayne.
28	* TheEighties : According to WordOfGod on the commentary, they all had trouble with the incredibly tight pants.
29	** Also crosses into TheNineties by the end, with the Seattle grunge scene.
30	* EightiesHair : Many of the cast are wearing wigs and extensions.
31	* EndOfAnAge: The hair-metal/glam rock era of the 80's.
32	* FakeBand: Steel Dragon. It includes three real musicians (ex-Dokken and current Foreigner bassist Jeff Pilson, Black Label Society founder and Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, and ex-Foreigner and Black Country Communion drummer Jason Bonham), while both Steelheart frontman Miljenko Matijevic and Brian Vander Ark of The Verve Pipe dubbed in for Chris. Jeff Scott Soto sung for Bobby Beers.
33	* GagPenis: Played for laughs. When [[spoiler:Tania]] borrows Chris's pants the morning after a party, [[spoiler:she]] proudly notes that they're a bit tight in the crotch.
34	* GenderBlenderName : Kim, Bobby's lover.
35	* GoldDigger: The wives of the Steel Dragon members. It's even implied that they tolerate their husbands having sex with groupies in exchange for expensive gifts and a lavish lifestyle.
36	* GrandStaircaseEntrance: Chris attempts to do this in his first gig with Steel Dragon; he ends up tumbling down them and getting a nasty head wound. He [[TheShowMustGoOn finishes the show anyway]].
37	* GroupieBrigade: And how!
38	* {{Grunge}}: [[spoiler:At the end of the film Chris becomes disillusioned with the rock star lifestyle, so he quits Steel Dragon, moves to Seattle, and starts making grunge music.]]
39	* HighSchoolSweethearts: Chris and Emily have been a couple since they were in their teens. Chris wrote Emily a song for her fifteenth birthday.
40	* HollywoodToneDeaf : Bradley, whose voice is better than most people's, is a little off key and off time, and Chris makes snide remarks about it. Downplayed when Emily sings a bit of a song Chris wrote for her. Creator/JenniferAniston has a believable singing voice for a normal person. The singer who auditions before Chris is also terrible.
41	* IAmTheBand: Kirk Cuddy feels this way.
42	** Bobby Beers outright says it.
43	* ImportantHaircut: Chris gets one at the end, going from metal length to [[Music/KurtCobain Cobain]] length.
44	* InVinoVeritas: One scene features Chris and Mats having drinks at the Rainbow Bar & Grill (a well-known rock star hangout in Hollywood). During their conversation, Mats tells the story about how he was once married, but left his wife because married life did not promise as much excitement as touring with rock bands. His wife later got remarried to a doctor and had children with him. The melancholic tone of Mats' voice implies that he's uncertain if he made the right choice or not.
45	* InsistentTerminology: Blood Pollution is a ''tribute'' band, ''not'' a cover band (at least according to Chris).
46	** Justified, as there ''is'' a difference. A cover band plays songs by many groups, while a tribute band only plays the songs of one group or singer. He is a little too caught up in it, though.
47	* IntercourseWithYou: The Steel Dragon song "Stand Up And Shout".
48	* JerkassHasAPoint: While he was acting unprofessionally by showing off and goofing around during Chris' last gig with Blood Pollution, Rob does make a good point when Chris confronts the band and their new singer, calmly telling Chris that he's "mental" for wanting to stick to Steel Dragon covers and dismissing the original stuff he's written.
49	* LaserGuidedKarma: While part of Blood Pollution, Chris is disdainful toward Rob's original compositions, because they're supposed to be a Steel Dragon tribute band and nothing else. But as he grows comfortable as Izzy of Steel Dragon and writes some songs for the band's new album, he finds himself condescended upon by Kirk Cuddy, who flatly tells him that writing songs (and creating album art) is not part of his job description.
50	* MeaningfulEcho: When Bobby Beers is fired from Steel Dragon, it plays out very similarly to Chris being kicked out of Blood Pollution earlier in the film.
51	** Likewise at the end when Chris sees Thor mimicking him in the same way he (Chris) mimicked Bobby in the beginning of the film.
52	* MetalHead: The members of Steel Dragon, their fans, and their groupies.
53	* MetalScream: Stand up and SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUT!
54	** Also Chris' extended "HALLELUJAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH" during choir practice, and Thor's "God of THUNDER!"
55	* MinimalisticCoverArt: Chris is scoffed at when he recommends this.
56	* MirrorMatch : The parking lot fight between Blood Pollution and Black Babylon, identically-dressed Steel Dragon tribute bands.
57	* ModestyBedsheet : After the party, Emily doesn't bother getting dressed, just wraps a sheet around her for her "walk of shame" back to the hotel room.
58	* MrFanservice: As the manager explains, this is why the band is popular.
59	* MsFanservice: Nina and Samantha, the two Steel Dragon fangirls/groupies. Their only roles in the film seem to be looking sexy and saying everything in unison (although they were ultimately responsible for Chris joining Steel Dragon by showing a Blood Pollution video tape to Kirk Cuddy). GirlOnGirlIsHot is also implied, as they're holding hands in one or two shots.
60	** Creator/JenniferAniston wears some pretty revealing outfits, too, including a crocheted dress over a thong bodysuit and a see-through t-shirt.
61	** Subverted with Tania.
62	* NewSoundAlbum: Chris wants to do one of these, but is overruled. Ironically, the last thing he's seen recording sounds more early00s Nu Metal than the NWOBHM style they've rocked so far in the film.
63	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: No bands were harmed; although their story is based on Judas Priest, Steel Dragon could easily be a stand-in for Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, Judas Priest, Guns N' Roses, Twisted Sister, Poison, Winger, Slaughter, Warrant, etc.
64	** And, of course, Chris Cole is loosely based on Tim "Ripper" Owens, who sang in a Judas Priest tribute band and later became Judas Priest's main vocalist after Rob Halford temporarily quit the band.
65	* NobodyLovesTheBassist: Played straight. The singer and lead guitar are the only members written in any detail.
66	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname : Kirk, due to some name confusion between his second and third wives, refers to all women as "totty."
67	* OpenMindedParent : Chris' parents, rather than hating on rock music the way movie parents often do, support him and adore the band.
68	* PosterGalleryBedroom: Chris has one. Covered in (you guessed it) Steel Dragon posters.
69	* PowerBallad: "We All Die Young". "Colorful," from the ending.
70	* RealMenWearPink: "Is that mascara?" "I'm in a band."
71	* TheRockStar: Chris becomes one.
72	* RunningGag: Don't call Blood Pollution a cover band.
73	* SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll: A lot of each, but subverted in Bobby's speech to Chris.
74	--> You got the sex wrong, didn't you? And drugs, I never touch 'em. No one does a gig like I do half-cut, not even at your age!
75	* ShoutOut : Several, to rock and roll films, but noted on the commentary is a documentary called ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Metal_Parking_Lot Heavy Metal Parking Lot]].''
76	** In one scene, Chris drives a motorcycle down the hallway of the Andaz Hotel in West Hollywood. John Bonham from Music/LedZeppelin did the same thing in the same hotel in the 1970s.
77	* TheShowMustGoOn: In the very beginning of the first song in his first concert with [[FakeBand Steel Dragon]], [[AscendedFanboy Chris Cole]] slips and falls down the stairs. Despite a nasty head wound and possible concussion, Chris rallies and finishes the song and the concert.
78	* SiblingRivalry: Chris and his brother, Joe, fight constantly. Joe thinks Chris is a pathetic BasementDweller, while Chris thinks Joe is a pig cop. Their relationship seems to improve after Chris joins Steel Dragon.
79	* ShownTheirWork: In-universe, Chris knows everything about Steel Dragon. "The stitching should be green... and has anyone ever seen Bobby wear a jacket with red lapels?"
80	** Crosses over a bit into StalkerWithACrush territory, as Chris knows what Kirk Cuddy nicknamed his wives and was going to send flowers when Cuddy's dog died.
81	* StageNames: Izzy.
82	* StopHavingFunGuys: An in-universe example. The other members of Blood Pollution are playing to have a good time, but Chris is so obsessive about perfectly imitating Steel Dragon that it causes his bandmates to resent him, and ultimately results in him being kicked out of the band.
83	* TantrumThrowing : While Bobby and Chris both throw tantrums, A.C. [[ApplianceDefenestration throws a TV out a hotel window]] after his girlfriend dumps him.
84	* UnsettlingGenderReveal: [[spoiler:Tania]] turns out to have a penis when Chris sees her in the bathroom the morning after a wild party, casually having a piss while standing up. Considering he likely had sex with her while drunk and high, he's a bit discomfited but moves past it fast.

Context Film / RockStar