Prey for Rock N' Roll (2003)
Directed by Alex Steyermarck
Written by Cheri Lovedog, Robin Whitehouse
Starring Gina Gershon, Drea de Matteo, Lori Petty, Shelly Cole
Release Date January 20th, 2003
Published January 25, 2004
At one point in her career, Gina Gershon was destined for stardom. Sadly, what may have been a breakout role as a sexually voracious Vegas Showgirl turned into one of the most infamous bombs in film history.
Gina Gershon was undeniably sexy in Showgirls but the film was nevertheless a rather big setback. Even with the success of 1996's Bound, her career has yet to recover. Her latest step toward maintaining an under the radar indie career is the rock melodrama Prey For Rock N Roll, a low budget grunge rock movie that gives Gershon the best character of her career.
In Prey, Gina Gershon is Jacki, the lead singer of an all girl grunge rock band that never broke through to the bigtime. Now Jacki is nearing forty and she and her bandmates are drifting through various personal problems that take time and focus away from playing for thirteen dollars a night in dingy LA clubs. Jacki finally has to start looking at whether or not being in a rock band is worth it anymore.
Jacki's bandmates include Tracy (Drea de Matteo), not a bad bass player but a trust fund baby with a taste for drugs, booze and abusive men. There’s Faith (Lori Petty), a very good guitarist and probably the most well adjusted of the group's members. Finally, Sally (Shelly Cole), the drummer and youngest member of the group. Sally and Faith are a loving romantic couple but Shelly has a number of family issues in her past that come roaring back when her brother Animal (Marc Blucas) is released from prison and needs a place to stay.
From this setup, the bandmates are treated to every number of worst case scenario trials. Rapes, beatings, OD's and a death and through it all they keep playing music. It's a little hard to believe that four people could be treated to so many of life's worst moments in such a short period of time but as wild and out of control as these women live, the possibility for the worst consequences is certainly there.
Prey For Rock N Roll is based on the life of rock singer Cheri Lovedog, who wrote a play based on her own life in an all girl rock band. Her band, the Love Dogs opened for other girl rockers like L7 and Hole but never achieved the success of those bands. In many ways, her lack of success is more interesting and dramatic than if the band had made it big and melted down in that typically VHI Behind The Music sort of way.
Unfortunately, director Alex Steyermark and co-writer Robin Whitehouse weigh down Cheri's life story with unnecessarily dark melodrama. There is very little light in the film and what little light there is comes from the band on stage. The performance scenes are too few and far between.
Gershon doing her own vocals is surprisingly good for a former Cat's cast member. Singing on Broadway is very different from singing heavy metal grunge rock and Gershon had to forget how to sing in order to pull off the rock vibe. She pulls it off magnificently.
Gershon is by far the best thing in the film and she keeps the whole thing from melting under the pressure of so much melodrama. Personifying the term Sex, Drugs and Rock N Roll, Gershon is the embodiment of rock sexuality. Ambiguous in her sexual preference, Gershon has the sexual attitude of a man and is as intimidating to men as Robert Plant was to women. Her presence, everything from the curl of her lips to the half closed eyes and fiery appraising stare, drips with sex.
If the rest of the film were as exciting as Gershon's performance, we would be talking about one hell of a film. As it is however, it's a film that is noteworthy for fans of Gina Gershon and the mini-genre of rock movies.
