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 Watching Rainn Wilson gyrate through the motions of being a rock ’n’ roll wild man in the middling comedy “The Rocker,” you can’t help wondering if Mr. Wilson (from “The Office”) is inhabiting a role that was originally turned down by Jack Black. Despite the maniacal glint in Mr. Wilson’s eyes, he is a decidedly nerdy hell-raiser in comparison with Mr. Black, who conjures memories of the rampaging John Belushi. Mr. Wilson, for all his quirky charm, is no volcano. That said, he is perfectly adequate in the role of a superannuated 41-year-old teenager with a chip on his shoulder. His character, Robert Fishman, a k a Fish, is a flamboyant drummer who, as the movie begins, is cheated out of his moment of glory when a record company offers his heavy metal band, Vesuvius, the moon and stars on the condition that he be replaced by an executive’s nephew. The offer is too sweet to refuse, and Fish ends up stewing in wretched obscurity for 20 years before an unlikely second chance at rock ’n’ roll redemption presents itself. Reduced to living in the attic in the home of his sister Lisa (Jane Lynch), Fish agrees to be a substitute drummer in A.D.D, an amusingly named teenage band made up of Lisa’s schlubby guitar-playing son Matt ( Josh Gad); Amelia (Emma Stone), the group’s scowling quasi-punk bassist; and Curtis (the pop teen heartthrob Teddy Geiger), its mopey lead singer and songwriter. Before their first gig, at Matt’s high school prom, Fish astounds his band mates by ostentatiously vomiting in his hand, which he then sticks in his pocket. The “pocket full of puke” ritual, he proudly declares, is the rock ’n’ roll equivalent of carrying a rabbit’s foot. Although his out-of-control drum solo ruins the prom, A.D.D. decides to stay together after Fish vows to get them a real club gig, a promise on which he makes good. In this technologically savvy movie, the band rehearses by Webcam with Fish playing nude in the ratty basement of a Chinese restaurant. Clips of “the Naked Drummer,” as he is called, find their way onto YouTube, and A.D.D. becomes an Internet sensation. Matchbox Records, the same label that signed Vesuvius two decades earlier, comes calling in the person of David Marshall (Jason Sudeikis), the ne plus ultra of sleazy, jive-talking record executives. What happens next is entirely predictable. To the chagrin of the band members’ parents, A.D.D goes on the road, and Fish finally gets to live the wild rock lifestyle he always longed for as his sober band mates look on in amazement. The movie carries off the trick of conjuring nostalgia for the bad old days when bands trashed hotel rooms and drank themselves into oblivion while making such behavior appear pathetic. A minor romance blossoms between Fish and Curtis’s mother, Kim (an ill-used Christina Applegate), who is chaperoning the tour and has her own fond rock ’n’ roll memories. The inevitable showdown between A.D.D. and Vesuvius takes place on the eve of Vesuvius’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, the hometown of both bands. In the 20 years since Vesuvius dumped Fish, its members have developed conspicuously phony British accents. But if “The Rocker,” directed by Peter Cattaneo (“The Full Monty”), has its witty moments, the movie is encrusted in rock lore and stale attitudinizing borrowed from “This Is Spinal Tap” and “School of Rock,” each of which it shamelessly cannibalizes. Most disappointingly, the music is tepid, mediocre pop pastiche. There is absolutely nothing special about A.D.D. In its portrayal of a rock culture that was once synonymous with liberating self-expression, everything is secondhand and done by rote. Hip has become rigidly, thuddingly square. “The Rocker” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). It has nudity and some strong language. THE ROCKER Opens on Wednesday nationwide. Directed by Peter Cattaneo; written by Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky, based on a story by Ryan Jaffe; director of photography, Anthony B. Richmond; edited by George Folsey Jr.; music by Chad Fischer; production designer, Brandt Gordon; produced by Shawn Levy and Tom McNulty; released by Fox Atomic. Running time: 1 hour 42 minutes. WITH: Rainn Wilson (Fish), Christina Applegate (Kim), Jeff Garlin (Stan), Jane Lynch (Lisa), Will Arnett (Lex), Josh Gad (Matt), Teddy Geiger (Curtis), Howard Hesseman (Gator), Emma Stone (Amelia) and Jason Sudeikis (David Marshall).
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