Movie Review: Prey For Rock & Roll

By Tanya Mueller

Prey For Rock & Roll

We follow the thoughts of all-girl band, lead singer/guitarist Jackie (Gina Gershon) as she contemplates trading in her Chrissy Hinde, matron of rock lifestyle for the more appropriate lifestyle of a woman about to turn 40 (as if anyone really knows what that is). Through the tribulations of the band members which could more appropriately be titled, When Bad Things Happen to Good Lesbians, the band attempts to make a name for themselves as straight up rockin chiks in a world dominated by youth and the male ego. Prey for Rock and Roll bills itself as a cutting-edge, feminist anthem under the camouflage of the rock-will-cure-all-your-ills genre as it deals with issues of aging, lesbianism, imnotsurewhatiamism, rape, and drugs. The shock value of such topics may be diminishing with time, and the importance of them will come as no surprise to many yet they are lessons that are always worth repeating which is perhaps why their overwhelming presence isn’t the 600 pound gorilla that one would expect it to be. The only thing keeping this movie from becoming Thelma and Louise with a better soundtrack is the amount of emotion and reality that Gershon brings to the screen.

The supporting characters (Drea De Matteo, Lori Petty, Shelly Cole, Marc Blucas and Ivan Martin) seem to do their best to break out of prototypes with the sympathetic ex-con and the idealic lesbian couple yet for the most part you can carve out the rest straight from Hollywood’s cookie cutter list of usual suspects. As rock cliché movies are a dime a dozen, it is the gem indeed that anticipates almost all rock-n-roll conventions and still makes you want more. As the movie winds to a close the trials and triumphs of the quartet become almost endearing and it’s possible you will find yourself wanting to know more, wishing you could ask for its phone number for a second date. That is, if it doesn’t kick your ass first.