Roadie (2011)
Average Rating: 5.8/10
Reviews Counted: 25
Fresh: 18 | Rotten: 7
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 6.5/10
Critic Reviews: 12
Fresh: 9 | Rotten: 3
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 2.8/5
User Ratings: 719
Movie Info
Canned from a 20-year job as roadie for Blue Oyster Cult, Jimmy is broke and desperate. With nowhere else to go, he returns home to Forest Hills, Queens to visit his aging mother, where a wild night with some hard-partying high school friends shows him that some things never change. From director Michael Cuesta, Roadie features powerful performances from Ron Eldard, Bobby Cannavale, Jill Hennessy and a refreshingly eclectic 70s hard rock soundtrack. -- (C) Magnolia
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Cast
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Ron Eldard
Jimmy -
Jill Hennessy
Nikki -
Bobby Cannavale
Randy, Randy Stevens -
Lois Smith
Jimmy's Mother, Mom -
David Margulies
Don, Don Muller -
Catherine Wolf
Marilyn Muller -
Suzette "Azariah" Gunn
Lizette -
Gary W. Cruz
Hispanic Store Owner -
Anthony Mangano
Male Cop -
Lourdes Martin
Female Cop -
Jarleth Conroy
Wes Motel Clerk -
Lynne Lipton
Waitress -
Arian Moayed
Irfan -
Diana Ravelo
Yopi -
Darrell Vanterpool
Teen -
Sammy Rhee
Korean Man in Liquor St... -
Obaid Kadwani
Taxi Driver -
Brandon Reilly
Young Jimmy -
K.C. Hughes
Young Nikki
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All Critics (26) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (18) | Rotten (7) | DVD (2)
A lot of what takes place in "Roadie" feels overly familiar, and the film could have been a wallow in pathos except for the performances, especially that of Eldard.
Top CriticThe hugely sympathetic Eldard ("Super 8") gives this slim movie a real, beating heart.
While the excellent cast does its level, honest best with the material, the material itself feels secondhand throughout.
"Roadie" is short on narrative momentum, but it's a perfectly attuned character study of this rock relic and his middle-aged sorrows.
Roadie has the stench of freshman-year mandatory creative writing all over it, from its cribs of Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller to an ending that's embarrassingly, clangingly metaphorical.
Mr. Eldard, who brings layers of complication to his character, makes Jimmy's vulnerability palpable, while Ms. Hennessy shows you her character's carelessness and opportunism.
Eldard makes you feel for this broken-down rock and roll creep. That feeling might be that he needs a good slap in the face, but Eldard doesn't want to be loved here and he doesn't flinch in the process.
It's rare that an acting performance can carry a movie, but Ron Eldard gets a lot more out of his role than was on the page. Eldard invests his character with palpable vulnerability.
Provides a touching look at a man whose life is in a period of transition.
Imagine The Wrestler if Mickey Rourke had just wrangled spandex instead of earning his status as a has-been. This is why this movie never feels completely original or moving.
An appealing mood of discomfort that's marvelously executed by the cast, hitting a few persuasive beats of disappointment and resignation that keeps the story grounded in an intriguing, lived-in reality.
Ron Eldard gives a sweet, moving performance as a 40-ish guy suddenly un-tethered in time.
Aside from the entertaining specificity about its setting and its protagonist's profession, Roadie is as disappointingly rote as its standard setup suggests.
Terrific contemporary drama about a veteran Queens, New York roadie who's been sacked after decades hauling equipment for Blue Oyster Cult is a gripping portrait of a flawed loser that allows Ron Eldard to shine
Shows the unglamorous side of rock n' roll - the lies and denial, the sadness, and the regret of dreams long gone.
Roadie takes its characters' suffering seriously without ever properly justifying said misery as enlightening or unique.
Audience Reviews for Roadie
Super Reviewer
"Roadie" is an underwhelming character study that is solely content to think of its lead character as a deluded fool and simply leave it at that, taking note of all not accomplished in his life. But life is not something to keep a running score of. While the life of a roadie probably contains more than its share of odd hours, back breaking work, long bus rides, greasy food and sub-par drugs, it should also give someone who has been around as long as Jimmy more than his share of stories to tell, none of which he is apparently willing to share with friends and family, including the reason for his being fired. What did he do? Pass a drug test?
Super Reviewer
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- Nikki: The Good Rats,what ever happened to them I thought they were going to be huge.
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- Jimmy's Mother: We always believed in you.
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- Nikki: All the women in the world, and you're still carrying a torch for me.
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Movie: ID: 771237580 Title: Roadie Release Date: 2012-01-06 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 4 Status: 1
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