As I arrived early at the JBL Theater at Seattle Center for my screening of The Rocker, I decided to pay the admission price and wander through the EMP (that’s “Experience Music Project” for you non-locals) upstairs to kill some time. I strolled through a lyrical history lesson of music in the Northwest, hearing clips from artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana. Needless to say, by the time the opening credits of this music-themed movie rolled, I was ready to rock!

In his first leading role, Rainn Wilson (best known as Dwight Schrute on T.V.’s The Office) plays Robert “Fish” Fishman, a rock and roll drummer who’s about to hit the big time in the early ’80s with his American band Vesuvius. Unfortunately, for the rest of the band, hitting the big time means dumping their drummer for the record company’s son.

Now, twenty years later, the suddenly British band Vesuvius continues to top the charts while the single, jobless Fish is forced to live in his sister’s attic. With its view of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame where Vesuvius is about to be inducted, this may not be the best place for Fish to get beyond the pain and sense of betrayal he’s been harboring for two decades.

Fortune smiles on Fish when his teenaged nephew Matt’s band needs a drummer for their gig at the prom—and he is their only hope. After finding a way to practice via web cams despite each of them being grounded, the band is quickly thrust to fame thanks to the miracle of YouTube. A large reason for their sudden fame is Fish, who becomes known throughout cyberspace as “the naked drummer.”

I’ll pause to let your imagination consider that for a minute.

Maybe it’s just because the EMP had gotten me in the mood for it, but I enjoyed this film from beginning to end. Unlike the recent Step Brothers, which is a funny joke stretched into a movie, The Rocker is simply a funny movie—and believe it or not, it’s actually less heavy-handed when it comes to the inevitable life lessons.

Although on the surface the film seems somewhat like a new version of Jack Black’s School of Rock, I never got the feeling that I was watching a rehashed plotline. Sure, the plot is fairly predictable and you can pretty much guess its climax from the get-go, but it was so entertaining that I really didn’t care.

A lot of the credit goes to Wilson, who is far from your typical leading man; but he’s able to pull off some Will Ferrell-style antics (remember, “the naked drummer”) without going overboard. Perhaps more importantly, he does it without overshadowing his co-stars, including Christina Applegate, Josh Gad, Teddy Geiger, and the up-and-coming Emma Stone. Wilson is also convincing as a drummer.

I was also impressed with the music, which is quite a compliment considering I just came from the EMP. It’s a little too Pop and not near the level of the music in recent films like August Rush and Once, but it works well for the film. After all, we must remember that besides Fish, this is a band of teenagers who play to an audience of teenagers. I may not be the target age group, but I’ll probably still download some of the soundtrack.

Don’t fret: I’ll pay.

The Rocker is rated PG-13 for “drug and sexual references, nudity and language.” Did I mention the naked drummer? That makes the rating appropriate right there. Other than that, there’s a little language and sexual content here and there, but nothing I’d worry too much about.

Courtesy of a local publicist, Jeff attended a promotional screening of The Rocker.