The ‘semi-autobiographical’ movie about a woman born to rock, just never quite succeed,
Prey for Rock & Roll is a glimpse into the life of co-writer Cheri Lovedog (called Jacki, played by Gina Gershon) and what one assumes are amalgamations of people she met and played with during her days as part of the LA punk scene between about 1980 and the early ’90s.
Jacki’s just turned 40 and wondering if the time’s come to give up her dream but her band might just get that big break, if some sleezy promoter can be believed. Lori Petty plays Faith, the band’s lead guitarist, who teaches wannabes during the day and is in love with the band’s drummer Sally. Drea de Matteo (Sopranos, Joey) is the bass player, a trust fund baby, and way past well done on drugs, drinking and a bad boyfriend. Who rapes Sally, but gets paid back by Jacki (she runs a tattoo shop, so go figure) and Sally’s brother Animal (named by her for the Muppet’s drummer, played by Marc Blucas), whose just turned up after doing a dime for manslughter of their stepfather (who was raping Sally).
Lots of angsty, inner thought voiceover from Gershon which is fine if you want to hear Lovedog’s, well, inner thoughts, and less interesting if you want a better movie. The women are punkers, more or less, and this is no Hollywood flick so no one looks all that pretty, dresses nicely and every scene is cheap and messy. The director, Alex Steyermark, has mostly produced music and soundtracks for movies and this is first time directing. He’s not a natural but doesn’t get swallowed up by the material either. Which reminds me, if you don’t dig RiotGrrl rock, that’s gonna be a problem.
not really recommended
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