Viewers Will Either Love or Hate `Rock Star; ' `Two Can Play That Game' is Uninspired
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.  THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "ROCK STAR") MARK WAHLBERG, ACTOR: Hello.</s>UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: This is Curt Cutty (ph), I play in a band called "Steel Dragon."</s>WAHLBERG: Ricky (ph), you know your English accent is almost as lame as your guitar playing?</s>UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Well I can't do much about the accent. What do you suggest I do about my playing?</s>WAHLBERG: Who is this?</s>UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: We're auditioning for a new lead singer.</s>UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: The good Lord has given you a hell of a voice.</s>UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Do you want the gig then?</s>LISA SCHWARZBAUM, CO-HOST: Peter, we're here at the Hard Rock Cafe. We come here quite often over the times that we've been together. But this time we are here for exactly the right reason. We're talking about heavy metal -- you know I love heavy metal. I'm Lisa Schwarzbaum.</s>PETER TRAVERS, CO-HOST: I'm Peter Travers. And this is HE SAID/SHE SAID, the movie review show.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: And the movie we are reviewing today is called, "Rock Star." This is set in the 1980s. Peter, you remember the 1980s, big hair, loud noise, heavy metal, glam rock, hair metal. This is all set during that time when kids could transform their lives by imitating their heroes. So what we have is Mark Wahlberg, the former Mark Mark -- Mark Wahlberg plays a kid in steel town in Pennsylvania who lives his life to imitate his heroes. They're called "Steel Dragon," they play wild, crazy noise, and his is in a tribute band...</s>TRAVERS: A cover band.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: Don't call them a cover band. He is in a tribute band. And what happens is, through the miracle of rock 'n' roll, he is plucked out of the crowd to replace someone in the actual band that he loves. And he becomes a rock star himself. And by becoming a rock star, everything is threatened, his relationship with his true-blue girlfriend, played by Jennifer Aniston is threatened. Suddenly he's thrust into groupies and sex and drugs. OK, so this is all very 1980s. And this is all actually a morality tale, because he learns that actually what's important is being true to yourself. Now, I have a feeling we're going to disagree about this movie, because I can just see from your body language, that you are ready to...</s>TRAVERS: What's it doing?</s>SCHWARZBAUM: ... to do reverb. I think Mark Wahlberg is a star. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "ROCK STAR") WAHLBERG: I'm just a regular guy who grew up with the posters of these guys on my walls. And now I'm one of them!</s>SCHWARZBAUM: I think that he has incredible power and charisma. And I think not since "Boogie Nights" has he done such a great job in making rock 'n' roll music come to life. Even though this story is manufactured, I found it enjoyable.</s>TRAVERS: Lisa, have you lost your mind?</s>SCHWARZBAUM: I have not.</s>TRAVERS: This is one of the worst movies that I have encountered in a terrible, terrible period for movies. It is also the first movie of the fall season, folks. This is it, this is what we get...</s>SCHWARZBAUM: So?</s>TRAVERS: ... a tired, cliche-ridden naive, stupid, horrendous film. It makes me crazy that you like it.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: But you're not convincing me why. I think...</s>TRAVERS: OK, every cliche there is. Last fall we began with a rock 'n' roll movie called "Almost Famous," OK?</s>SCHWARZBAUM: I knew you were going to bring that up, and they have nothing to do with each other.</s>TRAVERS: But they are the '80s; they're also the same period.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: No, that was the '70s.</s>TRAVERS: Well it goes right into the '80s, and it's felt. It has emotion. This is every cliche about rock -- there's orgies, there's the bad hair...</s>SCHWARZBAUM: But you see...</s>TRAVERS: ... there is Mark Wahlberg doing the "Boogie Nights" performance -- he's practically saying, "You're not the boss of me."</s>SCHWARZBAUM: Peter listen...</s>TRAVERS: ... what is Jennifer Aniston playing? I can't...</s>SCHWARZBAUM: Listen, the '80s was...</s>TRAVERS: ... I'm going nuts, its a horrendous film.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: Peter needs a little dose of rock 'n' roll. This is vaguely based on the story of "Judas Priest"...</s>TRAVERS: Very vague.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: ... and what happened when they actually did take a fan and make him a star. I like the manufactured sense of it, because the '80s were about making costumes and becoming something else. Jennifer Aniston to me is playing more like she is in "Friends" and she happens to be dropping in. She is a very '90s girl...</s>TRAVERS: Oh the deal of creating Seattle at the end, throwing everything in but the book -- can't really do it. I'm moving on to the next movie, because I've got to talk to you for hours...</s>SCHWARZBAUM: Well, Peter is just very wrong about that. I just have to say.</s>TRAVERS: The next movie, though, is called, "Two Can Play That Game." We can't play at this one, but let's look at a clip of it first. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "TWO CAN PLAY THAT GAME") UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Miss, I've got Keith on line one.</s>VIVICA A. FOX, ACTRESS: Never take the first call. Everything must be done on your time. Make him wait. Jason, please tell him that I'm just getting out of a meeting. He should call back in about 10 minutes. Thank you.</s>MORRIS CHESTNUT, ACTOR: She told me to call her back in 10 minutes.</s>UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Don't even worry about that. She's just stalling for time, dog. She's disheveled right now, she don't know what she's going to do.</s>TRAVERS: All right, "Two Can Play That Game," what is it about?</s>SCHWARZBAUM: It's about the rules.</s>TRAVERS: It's about the rules. It is about a lot of Buppies, you know, young black Americans. Vivica A. Fox is the girl. She is the one. She runs this whole PR firm of her own.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: She...</s>TRAVERS: And she's got girlfriends who just say, "When I'm in trouble with my man, I'm going to come to you, honey." And what does she do? She's in trouble with her own man, as played by Morris Chestnut. And she says, I've got 10 ways to set this guy straight.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: Right.</s>TRAVERS: More cliches, but almost insulting ones. I thought it was horrible.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: But you know what, again, I -- you know, I'm glad we're in the fall, because you are just -- you just did not have it right this summer. This movie is not very good, but it does what it sets out to do. It tells a very good story...</s>TRAVERS: It bored me to death.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: ... about the rules of men and women, and how they operate, and how you can't really snap up a man by playing by the rules. It's completely what it's supposed to be about. And it vanishes in a minute, and then it's the fall. Listen...</s>TRAVERS: But that's one of those, it is what it is things. No, we've got to be a little fussier, people. We've got to say, no, we don't want this anymore.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: OK, well I think anybody, even the fussiest is going to like what we're talking about in video. Because when we come back, we're talking about the really great movies that has come out recently, "Memento."</s>TRAVERS: Oh yeah.</s>SCHWARZBAUM: Come on back. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "MEMENTO") GUY PEARCE, ACTOR: OK, so what am I doing? Oh, I'm chasing this guy. No, he's chasing me.