This refers to the TV version, so I might have missed something edited out.
After reading the TV listing's blurb I was set for a boring movie. Boy, was I ever surprised. Before the first commercial I was treated to people who have very realistic appearances (they look like everyday people),new takes on some old humor, evil corporate bullying and delightfully lovable English nobility who can pull off a harmless stunt when cornered by life's uglier realities.
Then came the Young People, otherwise known as an American band called Global Heresy, but they weren't the stereotypical, eye-rolling groaners. Definitely hip, loud, raucous and irreverent, they had good hearts as well as useable brains.
I'm not sure why some people have a problem with O'Toole in this role, though I can guess that some people like their dramas straight-up and don't want O'Toole to be comedic. I thought all the main characters were delightful, and O'Toole's portrayal of a nobleman forced to "lighten up" is something special to be seen.
I have *got* to see this again!
Rock My World
2002
Action / Comedy / Drama / Music
Plot summary
Elderly aristocrats Lord Charles (Peter O'Toole) and Lady Diana Foxley (Dame Joan Plowright) give their staff - butler Benson (Ian Downie) and cook Margaret (Helen Beavis) - a one week vacation while the Foxleys visit friends as they have rented out their historic mansion for that week to a multinational corporation. As they are proud people, what no one but the Foxleys are aware of is that they are doing so only because they are in dire financial straits, and desperately need the money to retain their outwardly lavish lifestyle. But when the agency through which they hired the temporary cook and butler for the renters goes bankrupt, leaving them with no temporary staff, Lady Diana believes the only way they can get away with this rental plan without incurring a costly penalty or to advertise their financial problems is to act as "Benson" and "Margaret" themselves, much against stuffy Lord Charles' wishes and despite they not knowing how to be domestics. What the Foxleys are unaware of is that the multinational corporation is a front for Global Heresy, young immature American rock stars whose record company has set up this stint as a secret retreat location for them to test their new materials. It is also their first opportunity to rehearse with their new bassist Natalie Bevan (Alicia Silverstone),as their original bassist and the band's front man, Ben Gould (Alex Karzis),mysteriously disappeared two months ago and is supposedly deceased based on what little evidence is available. It becomes a clash of cultures between the proper Foxleys and the wild band. It also proves to be a clash within the five member band, as Nat is trying to be her own person and not a Ben Gould clone. Further problems arise that week as the record company's hospitality man, James Chancellor (Martin Clunes),has ulterior motives in his job at the mansion, and as two unexpected guests arrive who could upset the apple cart both on the Foxley and the band's sides of the issue.
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More than just a drama, and funny, too!
Where WAS this in 2002?
I am the worst channel surfer. I almost never find anything good on television unless I just happen to catch the tail end of it. This is one time I lucked out. The movie was just starting and I saw Joan Plowright with a big suitcase, I kept watching, then Peter O'Toole appeared, another good sign. I would watch footage of either of them asleep, and two not-so-stuffy aristocrats posing as their own servants for a rock band was a good enough premise for me.
I was worried this might be something sappy (and there is a schmaltz factor, I admit),but when when PO wound up in bed with a rock musician, I laughed. Alicia Silverstone surprisingly looked the part, she's very Liz Phair-esquire. This actually seems more like a funny episode of a TV show, but I'll take it. If you liked Plowright in "Bringing Down the House" check her out in this. Whoda thunk after Olivier's death she'd be such a sought-after comic actor?
File this one under Guilty Pleasures. It's not hilarious, but fun. Better than a some of Jim Carrey's mugging, for my money. It deserved a theatrical release in the states.
Exactly where was this hiding???
This movie was a complete surprise! Today I am finding nothing on TV and this movie shows up and it was actually funny! Love Peter O'Toole!! This movie is filled with an interesting chemistry between the actors. Alicia Silverstone in a rocker-chick mode is quite refreshing b'c she isn't playing a dizzy blonde for once. If this was a true rock band, I'd be standing in line waiting to get their CD and to see them in concert. Love the music.