Ah, this one is the perfect embodiment of Christina Applegate's worst professional instincts. The Rocker is a flat high-concept comedy with an absolutely nothing role for a 35-40 year-old actress. It requires the performer to grin and bear melodrama, stagger through overcooked comedy asides and court an onscreen romance with a loser so far out of her league, it's like Manchester United and Yeovil Town getting it on. Paging Christina Applegate. Applegate deserves so much more than the forgettable "cool mom" charade The Rocker forces her through. It allows her no opening to be funny, instead bowing to an over-caffeinated Rainn Wilson and a bunch of future stars (Emma Stone and Josh Gad) in suspect form. The film's drab, and Applegate's work follows suit. The Rocker's positioned at the bottom of this list because it's the epitome of Hollywood using a talented comedienne incorrectly. It's also here because Christina Applegate continues to play ball with that circumstance. Vacation (whilst marginally better) has the actress side-lined again, willingly signing herself onto the long, sad register of actresses suitable only for the roles of mom, nagging wife and shrew. Veronica Corningstone deserves better, dammit.
