Prey for Rock & Roll (2003) Online

I just want to respond to some of the comments I've read here. First of all, this movie absolutely GETS IT RIGHT. Yes, rock musicians do really talk like that. I know this because I am one and so are all of my friends. Yes, most of the rock musicians I know really dress like that and really do all that drinking & drugging. And about the music...if the music was good, there'd be no movie, get it? They'd have gotten signed long ago so there'd be no hard times, no conflict. They even said during the movie that she couldn't sing! You want bad acting & great music, go watch Purple Rain. You want to watch a movie about what the rock life is really like, watch Prey For Rock and Roll.

Prey for Rock and Roll is a great movie for anyone who likes to rock, especially women who have grown up admiring the likes of Joan Jett, Ann and Nancy Wilson, Lita Ford, Chrissie Hynde, or any women in the predominantly male music industry who have taken control of their music rather than allow themselves to be molded into the industry's "male fantasy" of a female musician. (Britney Spears, are you listening?) But it's not a movie only for women -- I saw PFRR with a guy, and he loved it. We are looking forward to the soundtrack coming out -- great music. Just to balance out my comments, my very small criticism is that once or twice (and only once or twice) a line sounded a little canned or flat, but I tend towards overanalyzing in that regard. (I won't say which lines so I don't give the movie away.) But overall the dialogue was great, very real, with a lot of humor also thrown in. The interactions between characters were great for building them up beyond 2-dimensions. (For example, Jackie's relationship with her mother made Jackie's character more interesting, Tracy's relationship with her boyfriend made her boyfriend more interesting -- a role that could have otherwise easily have been a caricature instead of a character. Ivan Martin was also great in the role.) I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone ready for a movie that balances the heavy (harsh aspects of life) with the light (finding the humor in life and following your dreams).

It was inevitable for me to see this movie. I play in a rock band myself. We've done concerts for almost no audience and we've done sold-out ones too. Small clubs as well as big festivals. So you could say I've "been there, done that". This being said, I have to make one thing clear: rock musicians come in all shapes and sizes. Not all rock musicians are like the ones portrayed in this movie, but the type of rock chicks in PREY FOR ROCK & ROLL do exist and I even had the pleasure of playing with them. So you could say that this movie is a pretty accurate portrayal of what rock & roll is all about on some levels.

The first part of the movie was a little boring, perhaps. I was thinking "This movie is supposed to be about a rock band's struggle for some recognition, but all we see is stuff about their family and relationships." But the second half is much better, 'cause things start to happen (in their private lives and for the band). So maybe the first half was necessary to make you care about the characters. The over-all acting was pretty good, especially Gina Gershon as the lead singer and Drea de Matteo as the silent bass-player with a nasty drug habit. The music itself was just standard rock & roll, well-played, but nothing special. And yes, Gershon's singing wasn't very good at all but at least it was her voice doing the singing. And let me remind you that a lot of successful rock singers aren't actually good singers. The fact that their music's kinda average makes it believable that they haven't been signed yet. Anyway, to me the problem with Gershon's singing wasn't so much the singing itself, but more the lyrical contents. She sings about stuff a 16-year-old would sing about, not a 40-year-old.

When you see them play (live or at a rehearsal) it's all pretty accurately filmed. You see the drummer hitting the right drums, the bass-player playing the right notes,... except for the guitar-player. Lory Petty should really learn how to play the right chords when acting. And one more thing: a band playing in a rehearsal room never acts the same way as on stage. And if they do, their's a big chance that afterwards they'll laugh about it. The rehearsals looked a bit too serious to me. They didn't even play mistakes while rehearsing. Not once. Oh well, it's a movie, right?

But there are also a lot of things I did like. At one point you see the first phase of a song being written: Jacki trying to find the right words together with the right chords on an acoustic guitar. Afterwards you see and hear the finalized version of the song. Then there's the rape-scene. Actually, we don't get to see the act and the idea alone is horrible enough, but I felt real good about what happened to the rapist afterwards. And at one point you see an enthusiastic teenage girl coming up to our rock chicks, doing the R&R-sign and saying something like "I really love your music, but if it were just a little faster, it might be even more cool". And at the end Jacki writes a fast song about that girl. It's just a little detail, but if you can read between the lines, than you know that Jacky's into R&R for all the right reasons. Doing it for the fans is one of them.

PREY FOR ROCK & ROLL is just an enjoyable movie about being in a rock band. I was thinking about giving it 6 out of 10 stars, but I saw this movie together with a girl and since I consider it to be a chick-flick, more or less, I asked for her opinion. She agreed with me that if you're a 16-year-old, you'll probably think of PREY FOR ROCK & ROLL as THE coolest movie ever. But she isn't a teenager anymore and ended up giving the movie 7 out of 10 stars. So this one's for you, Barbsi.

They finally made a Hollywood film about Riot Grrrl!

"Prey For Rock & Roll" was written in part by Cheri Lovedog, front woman for Lovedog, an L.A. all-woman punk band with no major record releases. They opened up for more distinguished punk bands like X and the Descendents. It is a moving story about being an aging punk rocker woman in L.A., and I have a feeling that Lovedog probably imbued this story with much of her own life story.

Warning: Plot Spoilers: The part of this film I am most interested in, of course, is it's function as a feminist fairy tale. The narrative is structured around Clam Dandy, an all-woman (with two lesbians and one bisexual woman) L.A. punk band. The singer, Jacki (Gina Gershon) is often the solid figure the other members depend on. Jacki, despite being beautiful for her 39 years, expresses consistent insecurity about what is socially appropriate for 39 year old women and how valuable she is, as a 39 year old woman to society. This is a very real set of doubts for most women in the Western world, and I imagine living in L.A., even if it is the seedy underbelly, has to intensify those concerns. Despite her worries undermining her self-esteem, Jacki supports her three band mates through trying ordeals. Tracy (Drea Matteo) is a messy-headed drug addict. Tracy confesses toward the end of the film, that she is addicted to narcotics and alcohol. Lori Petty (from "Tank Girl") plays Faith, a bleached blonde lesbian, who rings for Anne Heche in her Ellen heyday. Faith, like Jacki is a relatively solid character, although her lack of experience with personal tragedy alienates the other characters as they experience their own personal horrors. I felt that this interpersonal dynamic is a very common, real one in real life, so the introspection of the script definitely works in "Prey"s favor. Sally (Shelly Cole), the drummer for Clam Dandy, looks younger and hipper with her retro styling ala "Grease", but she endures the most sexualized violence out of any of the leading female characters. She expresses her frustration that her girlfriend Faith looks at her as though she will "shatter", giving the viewer an idea of her own internal strength. The character development here is rich, and I especially appreciated the attention paid to the dynamics of female friendships. Even more, I appreciated the complex web of feelings between subjects that emerges within groups of women. I think these qualities are really important for a movie to function as a feminist consciousness raising film, but in the milieu of female clichés, it is increasingly difficult to construct female characters who don't reconstitute existing clichés. It helps that the character who goes down at the end is not "the junkie whore" or "the rape victim", otherwise "Prey" would descend into the fodder of after school specials. The interpersonal conversation is really what adds contextual depth to the subjects in this film.

The content of the plot explores sexual objectification, aging, rape, incest, and many other issues explored by similar bands like L7, 7 Year Bitch, and Bikini Kill. During the 1990's, Riot Grrrl really was a climactic punk rock feminist movement. As a person who fervently existed in that environment as a music fan (and fanzine writer), I almost feel like this film is a thinly masked one about that time. The piles of tragedy Clam Dandy endure seem melodramatic, but in this case, it is art imitating life when we remember Kathleen Hanna's (of Bikini Kill) assertions that her brother used to rape her, when we remember the horror of Mia Zapata (of The Gits) being raped and murdered, when we remember that Stefanie Sargent (of 7 Year Bitch) and Kristen Pfaff (of Hole) died of a heroin overdoses. The overwhelming shared pain within a circle of people is immeasurable, and that makes the "plot twists" in "Prey" convincing. However, unlike real life, where Mia Zapata's sympathizers had to wait a decade for her killer to be caught, Jacki and her sensitive" boyfriend Animal, who went to prison for killing the stepfather who raped his sister, Sally, exact vengeance on Nick, a rapist character who was dating Tracy. Rapist revenge films can be feminist ("Girls Town") or exploitive ("I Spit On Your Grave"), and in this case, I feel that "Prey" operates as the former.

The other dimension of this film concerns it's plausibility as an adequate representation of musicians and their lifestyles. Arguably, Clam Dandy (despite having assistance from Joan Jett on the set) are not the greatest rock band. Gina Gershon's singing isn't moving or even good. They can't even get a recording offer over $2,000 despite having a decade of experience as a band. Arguably, Clam Dandy spends more time negotiating their personal drama than practicing. This aspect of the film seemed to infuriate people in other reviews, although I think they really are missing the point.

I've always thought of punk rock as the most pure variant of what 'rock and roll' really is. Anarchy, chaos, pure violent emotion. Basically we are going to say what we came here to say and f*ck you if you don't like it.

In this film we are treated to those who would dare to devote some or all of their lives to the creation and perpetuation of this form of musical expression. We see how life and all its harsh realities are synthesized into musical form. This film is not a simple 'band chasing a contract stereotypical Hollywood rubbish' though I think that is how its marketers are trying to falsely spin it. This film is about each character and how they influence and are influenced by the music they create. Punk rock isn't pretty, thoughtless or safe music and the characters depicted in the film aren't either. We see both the humor and the tragedy that makes that humor possible in each of the characters lives (and there is plenty of each). Also, the lifestyle of those who choose to 'pray' at the alter of rock and roll pay a price. I think the double almost triple meaning of the title of the film says it all. Perhaps one really must suffer for ones art.

Basically, everything about the film is extremely well done from writing to the cast, direction, music, costumes, etc... Its obvious that this was a work of love for all involved. That being said this film isn't for everyone and there is plenty for people to hate and fear. If you're one of those unfortunate few who sympathize with the title of this review then you have more problems than I can help you with because Gina Gershon is hot no matter who she is kissing!

Overall Rating 9/10

oh, and f*ck you!

so i just finished watcing Prey for Rock and Roll and just finished reading the comments. i was here in los angeles when cheri lovedog (the writer) was doing her thing.

and she was doing it great. she took a piece of her life and made it something that all of America could watch. because if all of America had seen the real deal they would not no how to handle it. living in los angeles at the time was intense and this movie captured the desperation. the saddest thing about Hollywood has always been and will always be people who don't know when to quit. don't know when to stop drugs, don't know when to stop their dream. and i would say for a movie it gets the point across. gina gershon shows that she is more than a glam girl. she knows how to get dirty. drea de mateo shines. looked almost to real.. there is something to be said for that. all the girls did a good job. but this was not just a movie about making it in rock and roll. this was a movie about coming to terms with yourself. and that can sometimes be the hardest thing. i think cheri really shows that this is the biggest fight in Hollywood. and this is the fight that most people lose. it was also great to see francois on the screen. brought back some interesting memories. and Texas teri continues to rock. here is a woman that is living that dream. over forty and still going strong.

I really just liked this movie a whole lot. Sure the music wasn't the greatest but I am close to "40" and really can relate to these women. Must be my generation that went through Punk Rock, New Wave and Goth era that really got this movie. It just goes to show you you're never too old to dream and if your my age you're far from a poser instead we old folks deserve our respect for making a scene that people still try to emulate to this day. Have fun watch this movie and just be yourself. Thats what I got from it and I just really dig women with their style and panache. Always will and when you see someone that feels so strongly about their craft it makes it even better. This is far from just some average movie that glorifies the hardcore scene it makes it personal and non glamorous in a realistic way.

PREY FOR ROCK AND ROLL (2003) *** Gina Gershon, Drea da Matteo, Lori Petty, Shelly Cole, Marc Blucas, Ivan Martin, Eddie Driscoll, Greg Rikaart, Sandra Seacat, Ashley Drane, Joannah Portman. Highly energetic and scrappy depiction of women in rock and roll and the dreams that always seem within grasp even if it takes decades to achieve. Gershon (she also co-executive produced and sings and performs all her own original songs to boot) is the lead singer (think the love child of Iggy Pop and Joan Jett) of a woman's rocking band attempting to score a recording contract to a ticket to the big time but the usual melodramas of bad choices in boyfriends, drugs and life in general delay them despite their game camaraderie and love for one another. The autobiographical screenplay by rocker Cheri Lovedog (and Robin Whitehouse) shows the warts and all look at a tough industry with some tough cookies clawing their way to gain some respect for their artistry (and from within). Petty gives her best performance since `Point Break' while da Matteo and Cole provide enough sugar and spice to mix things up believeably. Great soundtrack and again Gershon (who I love) clearly shows her blood, sweat and tears in this personal project with her trademark ballsy yet vulnerable and sexy-as-hell aplomb; she shoots and scores! (Dir: Alex Steyermark)

"Prey for Rock and Roll" sticks B-movie diva Gershon in the spotlight of yet another B-flick as the lesbo lead of an all-girl small time club rock band. This slice-of-rock-life look at the aging rock musician almost works but can't seem to avoid those oh so very Hollywoodish excursions into lesbian sex, sex for drugs, rape, revenge, etc. More music and fewer gratuities and this could have been a reasonable representation of the plight of the aging rocker, the narcotic-like hold music has over the musician, and the trade-offs and sacrifices they make for their art. However, when all is said and done, "Prey..." plays out like just another B-flick wannabe. Recommended for rockers and Gershon fans. (C+)

Growing in up in LA Jacki (Gina Gershon) always knew she wanted to be a rock and roll star.

"I was this dorky 7th grader when I had my first real cool experience. Ike and Tina Turner at the Hollywood Bowl. Suddenly the idea of becoming a teacher or a nurse lost its edge. Sorry, Mom."

According to Jacki, watching punk icons X at the Whiskey A Go Go on LA's Sunset Strip was a pivotal experience

"I left that show knowing I had to have my own band. So I got an electric guitar, learned three chords and conned some chicks into starting a band with me."

Twenty years later Jacki is still toiling away in small clubs on the Strip and nursing an arena size midlife crisis.

"Don't you ever think of being 50 or 60, hauling our gear around, passing out fliers, fighting with the bookers and still sweating the rent?" she asks bandmate Faith (Lori Petty).

It's a dilemma most bar band veterans have to face sooner or later although no one wants to think about it.

Although the plot occasionally strays into melodramatic made-for-cable movie territory the dialogue has the rueful ring of actual experience. In fact, novice screenwriter Cheri Lovedog toughed it out on the LA club scene for over a decade with her own all girl punk rock band, opening for bands like Jane's Addiction, Hole and L7. There is a lot of smoke, sweat and tears in lines like " So I'm a 40 year old woman chasing a teenage dream. But you know what? It all comes down to this. These 40 or 50 minutes of playing live a few times a month." Gershon is a naturally charismatic performer and she's firing on all cylinders here. The star did all her own vocals live. This kind of hard, angry, lyrically charged rock is deceptively difficult but Gershon has the vocal moxie as well as the looks and the attitude to pull it off. (To prepare for the role she took guitar lessons from Joan Jett and played clubs with a backup band.) Lovedog wrote the songs and although not all of them work, "Every Six Minutes", a snarled warning to would-be rapists, is chillingly convincing. Musician/filmmaker Alex Steyermark lenses the proceedings like a gritty reality TV doc. "It was really important for me to capture the culture of what it is like to be in a band," he tells us on the DVD. "This is a world I'm familiar with, a world I come from and in many ways I wanted to pay homage to that, to the people who really work hard at their art even though they are never going to see any kind of material success from it."

Glamorous… no way. The low-scale feature "Prey for Rock and Roll" is far from a sugar-coated rags-to-riches tale, but a scorching and soul-seeking drama (they might be making ends meat, but they enjoy and live for 'their' music than looking for fame… but they slog it out the hard and long way to finally see it that way) set in the hot and heavy punk rock scene captured in an almost imitate documentary style. It wasn't what I was expecting that's for sure, as the music is its core (with some good musical pieces by Gina… who did perform all of her own vocals and '6 minutes' was something special), but wrapped around it is a very conventional character formed, but strikingly biting story (based on rocker Cheri Lovedog's autobiographical) driven by its authentic grit and picture-perfect performances with excellent dynamics led by the outstandingly simmering Gina Gershon. She lives her character psychically, but also mentally through the highs and lows. Pouring out emotion (and there's a lot from anger to sorrow and pain that's effectively brought across), with roguishly pointed-tongue quips from an elastic script. Making up the rest of the chicks in her band is a rebelliously intoxicating Drea De Matteo, a sure-footed Lori Petty and a sassy doll-face Shelly Cole. In support are stable turns by Marc Blucas and Ivan Martin. Director Alex Steyermark instills a punching attitude and a genuine feel to his imagery with its all-too easy pace breezing by making the whole thing so engaging, even though it's a well-worn formula. The electrifying soundtrack to boot, pumps out the potent tunes and accordingly matches to the smothering atmosphere. You actually do feel like you're a passenger on the rock and roll ride. Enjoyable, but also confronting music/drama feature.

I thought this movie was great. They each had their own lives and own life stories they weren't posers. jacki who wanted to become a rock star hadn't gotten the deal she needed to get her feet off the ground which has happened to a lot of people I know. She felt old and in todays industry if you aren't young and vibrant and blonde it is the hardest thing in the world to come up into the music world.

Each rocker in the band had their own life stories and problems but it always came down to music which I think portrayed how music was the main focus in their lives. No matter drugs or life dramas they rocked on. When their homegirl was hurt by that total loser and let me tell you he played one well, they got revenge much like anyone in reality would want and would get. I thought this movie was great they didn't need to show sex in the movie because this wasn't about sex it was about rockin on and the lifestyles that go with it. There might not always be fame in rock n roll but there is always life and reality portrayed.

This movie is embarrassing. It had potential- the idea of an over-40 female rocker trying to "make it" in today's music scene is a really interesting idea... but the writer's of this film perverted that idea and ruined whatever chance they had at making a quality film.

I'd say the first mistake was in choose Gina Gershon to play the lead. Someone lied to her and told her that she could sing, and now we all have to suffer for it. Time and again, she destroys our eardrums by wailing her trite lyrics. We get to hear about three of this band's songs in entirety, and not one of them is good. I was shocked (SPOILER! As if you should even care) that she got offered a contract for ANY money. If I had her lack of talent, I'd have snatched that contract up and thanked my lucky stars. But alas, she has "integrity."

The second mistake was in trying to cram a lifetime of experiences into what seems to be less than a year's time. Everything bad that can happen to a woman happens in this movie. The men are painfully superficial- they serve approximately the same purpose as the backgrounds eight-year-olds paint for their school plays. Drea de Matteo almost makes this movie bearable, but she can't save herself from trite dialogue and a flaccid script. How these actress got through their scenes without laughing at how ridiculous they were, I don't know.

I watched this movie with a group of female friends, all of us comprising different races and sexualities, and we all found it painful to watch. Maybe you have to be speedily approaching menopause to understand?

For the guys out there: there is a very short lesbian sex scene, but it's the fakest I've ever seen. Not worth the money to rent it.

I think Gina Gershon did a terrific job of acting in this movie. The content was very well done. I believe it is a good movie for all ages and would recommend it to anyone. It deals with a lot of issues we face today and have faced in the past. The actors were very good in it and I especially liked the message it left. The music was very well done and the writing was good. The cast got along very well and it shows that we can all still be friends and do what we enjoy the most.Wheather you're black or white it was for everyone from every walk of life and it dealt with everything in life. I came away with a positive attitude and felt that the audience would too.

This is the most authentic and real rock and roll movie I have ever seen. It's about women rockers who will probably never "make it", but they just keep on rocking anyway. I'm a musician, and I felt like I was living with a real band of musicians, and sharing all of their dreams, disappointments, and tragedies. Watching Gina Gershon really singing and rocking on film was truly inspiring. Her performance is amazing, so moving, and courageous. And you can really see in this film why both women and men find her so hot. All of the other actors are great too (including the guys, even the "bad" boyfriend of the Drea DeMatteo character). The directing is really strong: bold and elegant at the same time. I also thought the film was beautifully shot, and that the clothes and sets were great. The songs were really good and sounded great, and the film has some of the funniest dialog I've ever seen. Obviously, I loved the movie.

Regarding the depiction of the lesbian characters that another user talked about, I also saw the film at the Awards Night at Outfest, and everyone there seemed to love it; certainly, the people I personally spoke with afterwards felt it was among the best fiction films they had seen at Outfest. (Small spoiler coming up, so you can skip to the next paragraph, if you'd like). Yes, it's true that there is rape and a lesbian dies, and we've certainly seen that before, but in Prey for R&R it doesn't feel cliche: the lesbian who dies is happy and well-adjusted, not some cliched self-hating misfit, and as a result her death feels truly tragic. And the lesbian who is raped summons up all her strength and keeps on going, a true survivor. Maybe it's a lot of drama for one movie, but it still felt real and true to me, and I personally found it inspiring.

I also saw Rise Above (the Tribe 8 documentary) at Outfest, and I was struck by how much the films share in common thematically. This is probably because Prey for R&R was written by a dyke rocker (I think the story is supposed to be somewhat autobiographical), and Tribe 8 are the ultimate dyke punk band (someone should do a double bill of both films). But at the end of the day, Prey for R&R doesn't actually make a big deal about the characters' sexuality, they are all comfortable with whatever choices they've made -- the Gina Gershon character is Bi and the most sexually fluid of the group, but they all seem just fine with who they are.

This is a really enjoyable and original film that will appeal to people of all sexual persuasions and professions, anyone who's ever had a dream of success that didn't turn out quite the way they hoped, and to anyone who just loves watching strong women rock out on film.

Alex Steyermark, a man who's worked in the music department on movies for decades, made his own filmmaking debut with this decent drama. Gina Gershon stars as Jacki, lead singer and rhythm guitarist for an all female punk rock band, Clamdandy, in the late 1980s. The film shows what happens as she and her band mates deal with the chaos in their lives. Among other things, there's a creepy boyfriend (Ivan Martin), an ex-con brother (Marc Blucas), and a bass guitarist (Drea de Matteo) who's kind of a mess.

"Prey for Rock & Roll" is nothing great, but it does have a feeling of real authenticity to it. It's based on the autobiographical play by Cheri Lovedog, a real life West Coast musician. It's actually fairly realistic when it comes to the subject of making it in the music business. Clamdandy does make some reasonably listenable music, but most of it is nothing special; one exception is their effectively angry "Every Six Minutes", a warning to rapists. The girls (also including Lori Petty as the lead guitarist and Shelly Cole as the drummer) look just right and the dialogue, while sometimes pretty profane, is appropriate for these characters. The film does get somewhat melodramatic at times, but at least it never goes truly overboard in the attempt to manipulate the viewer. It does offer a fairly satisfying comeuppance for the story's most vile character.

The performances are all very good. Gershon, who also did her own singing, took guitar lessons from real life rock star Joan Jett, and actually played clubs with real bands. She does a wonderful job of convincing you that she's really part of this scene, and is the main reason to watch this film.

Commendably, this doesn't try to come off as some sort of fairy tale, offering instead a resolution that is believable.

Worth a look for rock & roll lovers, and those musicians out there living their dream.

Seven out of 10.

It seems to come down to people who have been musicians and lived in the "play for no money" bar scene get it. Those who haven't complain about the bad music and the unrealistic events. However, this is actually semi-autobiographical as written by Cheri Lovedog. Her band lived that scene and opened up for many acts who were successful.

And if you think the songs in this move are lame...hey...I've heard WAY worse. Just spend a couple of hours on soundclick and you can hear all the extremely bad songs you want.

Some lament that they should have called the cops on the guy for rape. But given the relationships between all of them, it would have been hard to prosecute. Factoid: Cheri Lovedog owns a tattoo parlor in Santa Cruz, California. It was and still is a prominent part of her life.

Pacing: It's a little slow, then picks up, then it's slow... the complaints about the pacing seem to have been made by people who have become so used to music videos masquerading as movies that they can't sit still for 90 minutes without being stimulated every second. And y'know...Die Hard starts out slow too.

It's a tough life trying to make it in the music business. Only a very few actually find success and when they do it doesn't last for long. The music industry preys on dreams and they sell a LOT of guitars, amps and drums to keep that dream alive.

Anybody who has ever had the dream of being a rock star and had it smashed against the wall knows what it's like to be Prey for Rock & Roll. But in the end - for all of us who have played those low paying gigs - music will always be a part of us and we'll never stop playing. This film captures the experience like no other.

Based on the reviews I'd read of this film, I knew it could go either way: a supercheesy, false account of a "chick band," or an entertaining and authentic movie about rock music and the people who make it. Unfortunately, it went the supercheesy and false way.

Gina Gershon, Lori Petty, and Drea de Matteo are three of my favorite actors, and one of the few good--though thoroughly shallow--things I can say about the movie is that the women all looked fantastic (especially Gershon). De Matteo maximized her role as the strung-out Tracey; she's the only one who really shone.

One of the film's greatest flaws was incorporating so much of the band's music into scenes. The music was no great shakes, and especially unfortunate is Gershon's voice, which is thin and amateurish. By the time the movie reached its final fifteen minutes I was ready to hit the "mute" button.

Also irritating was the inauthenticity of the film and its characters, who postured endlessly about "rock and roll" this and "rock and roll" that. It's been my experience, as part of the New York City music scene, that no one who plays music talks that much about the "rock and roll lifestyle"!

The film handled issues such as rape and death with a very heavy hand, with a series of unrealistic plot twists--I'm thinking of what happens to Petty's character here in particular. Bad dialogue abounded.

All in all, only the attractiveness of the characters--particularly Gershon, whose tattoos and leather pants are irresistible, and for whom I've had a soft spot since "Bound"--makes this movie worth renting.

OK OK......I am a 40 year old(male) rocker & can relate 2 a lot of this movie if you have never been a musician who sweat & tormented over music you just wouldn't get it.......great flick tells a good story.....I watched it twice once with musicians & once with just sum regular friends....group one got it...group two did not..if you haven't lived that life or lived in that time sure you wouldn't understand what they were going through & the pain that comes with the life that they chose there were hundreds & hundreds of bands like that on the strip in the 80s this was just one story...so take it for what it was.....a rock n roll movie......to quote a line from the movie."I am chick in a band & that f@#%in rocks" & she did the whole way through this movie.............PEACE

I was interested in this movie because of the "do your dreams have to die because you are over 40?" angle, but was completely blown away by the total quality of the movie. I'm not a huge rock fan so much (preferring jazz), but this movie made me a believer in the power of rock and I swear I am now going to regularly devour the entertainment listings in the "L.A. Weekly" with hopes of catching Cheri Lovedog (who wrote the autobiographical script) and I will be lining up at the Dragonfly or wherever with the rest of the explosive fans if she is still performing and I sure hope to God she is. Cheri--as you know better than most, dreams are eternal and age is a cipher. Maybe with this movie, you have made it like you deserve.

The music is hot and the women are even hotter--but there are no boundaries between the music and the women. Tender and tough all in the same package, those women are true stars. And these are no cookie-cutter characters, not by a long shot, and every single one of them is interesting to the max and were portrayed as not only very real, but people you have to care about despite how tough they come across--or maybe BECAUSE they are so tough, because no matter what life throws at them, they measure up to the challenge. They're fighters and survivors and I count that as an inspiring thing.

Probably my favorite character was "Faith," played by Lori Petty, although the entire cast was outstanding (and I have a tender place in my heart for Animal) but I have now firmly placed Gina Gershon at the head of the "sex is sex, I don't care which body parts you've got" list on which she was the charter member after her role in the movie "Bound". If I ever am asked why I won't explain whether I am gay or bi or whatever-the-hell, all I have to say is "Gina Gershon" and I hope that explains it all. This movie is the answer to so many questions I didn't even know I was asking. For those who love the power of music, for artists, for men and women, for the older and the younger, and for people everywhere just trying to love and to make it in life with as many pieces as possible, go see this film. I guess that includes everybody!

I love Gina Gershon, I love American punk, I love films. Hence put the 3 together and you should have my dream come true, but its sadly not the case.

The story is interesting, but the attitude towards reality just doesn't work, almost every character has had a bad sexual experience and it seems that if you have ever been raped or abused you immediately decide to become a punk rock loving rebel, and don't worry because one day you will get revenge on your attacker, it worked out that way for all the girls in Clamdandy.

The music is pretty cool and I think Ginas voice is groovy but the song lyrics are soooo clichéd I felt embarrassed, pretty much every track is like "I swear at police and I drink and drive, and I don't care about men and I stay up really really late and I wear rude t-shirts and I litter" gee, Can you hear me back there in the 70s?

Some of the direction is handled very well, like during the songs and the films more disturbing moments and strong performances are given by all the cast (special praise to Drea De Matteo who is worryingly convincing as a drug addled rock casualty) My problems with the film are not with the performers, just for a frankly patronising script.

Finally, There's this "comedy" character who is this ultra cheerful young girl learning to play guitar who keeps making the horns and shouting "rock onnnnnn!!!!" and the clamdandy girls are all like "haha, she hasn't a clue" I tell you now; There's NOTHING "punk rock" about trashing someone else whose just trying to enjoy what they do in their own way.

Gina looks amazing, everyone tries real hard. Kudos to them, But, ultimately, the films patronising attitude to sexual abuse and unrealistic approach to life and punk rock in general just falls at the first hurdle.

*** May contain spoilers*** Wow. This movie is really bad. It's so bad that the first word of the title is misspelled (I'd be willing to allow for the possibility of it being some awful pun if everything else didn't suggest that it was out of the intellectual league of the producers to allow for this. Also, the song of the same name in the movie indicates that it's supposed to be "pray"). The drummer, guitarist, and bassist were all well-cast and were pretty good in their roles... but the main character, played by Gina Gershon, is such a monumental bitch, it's hard to relate to her or her world unless you're the most hardened, bitter, negative person. She has this perpetual scowl smeared on her face and is incapable of not sneering or radiating this fake bad-ass attitude that instantly makes everything around her turn to sh*t. Which everything does, both in the context of the movie, and in the meta-context. And the plot itself a bit ridiculous, considering that her bandmate gets raped, another bandmate descends into serious drug abuse, and yet another bandmate dies in a freak accident-- all within the span of like a week. Oh, and she takes revenge on the rapist, who incidentally, is unconvincing as a realistic portrayal of a deranged nut. Somehow it's just hard to take it all seriously, and worse, Gershon's character really has a way of ruining the rest of the movie, contaminating it all with her bitter bile.

And then there's the music. Jesus Christ. It's cliché in this bitter "I'm too cool for life" kind of way, where everything has this faux sleazy, sneering overtone that's frankly just embarrassing to watch. There are some points where it sounds moderately interesting, but then Gina starts singing and it's all over.

I guess if you're into the rock'n'roll narrative, you'll find something to like about this movie; after all, this romantic notion of being hungry and breaking through to the mainstream has a certain appeal, but I just don't think it's done all that well here, either in a technical sense or in story-telling. There are signs that the writers have some talent, and are able to convey things subtly, but the larger narrative is not very compelling or capable of generating strong response-- although you will almost certainly hate Gershon's character.

5/10

This movie was really good!! It portrayed some things not always as they really are, but i think it showed some important subjects that needed to be shown. The story line is pretty good and interesting, through the whole movie i was interested to know more and more about the characters and how they turn out. The movie is entertaining and quite funny at times, although the whole vibe of it is, mostly, almost the opposite. Gina was great, she really got the whole feel of the character. The music lacked a little, but still was good for a movie i guess. This movie is not spectacular, but it most certainly did not suck. I enjoyed watching it. So over all this was a -good- movie, recommended.

I liked this movie a lot, despite a couple of violent scenes. I've been involved with music, and women making music, for a long long time, and this film rings true to everything I've experienced. Gina Gershon and Drea DeMatteo are terrific -- good casting job all around (although Lori Petty comes off more like folksinger Jill Sobule than a punk guitar goddess). Not sure whether Gina sings the songs or if they're dubbed (I suspect the latter), but she's got great rock star moves and is even believable as a tattoo artist. Drea is dead on as a party-hearty rock chick guarding her vulnerable side. And, oh, yeah, they're also kind of hot. There are a lot of DIY-type full-length songs, most of which are enjoyable, if not quite ready for prime time. If you've ever grooved to Joan Jett's "I Love Rock and Roll" -- you'll appreciate this movie.

Oh Gina, my lovely Gina, how bad have you fallen? Then again, you were never really an A-lister. Prey for Rock n' Roll features an all-girl punk rock band, but maybe hard rock too, in LA, supposedly in the late 90s or early 2000s. Jackie (Gershon) is the lead singer, who is turning 40 and still doesn't have success or a respectable recording contract. While the cast looks the part and the acting is decent thanks mostly to Gershon and Drea DeMatteo, the plot has several odd and un-realistic situations. 2 of the girls are lesbians, while another is bi-sexual. I didn't know straight rocker chicks didn't like punk. 2 of the bandmates were sexually abused when young, then one of them is raped, another dies in an accident, while the remaining one is a drug addict. The rapist has the word "rapist" tattooed to his forehead (oh wow). Why not send him to jail? According to the writers it seems, people in rock bands lead trash existences and suffer constant calamity. Funny, I've had many friends who were in rock bands and I can't recall any having such a decadent band history. And at least their music was decent. Clamdandy (where did they get that name?) had terrible music, I believe courtesy of Linda Perry, formerly of 4 non blondes (East Village crackehead supreme if there ever was one). Their songs simply weren't.....great. Also, the characters kept talking about the rock n' roll lifestyle that they ended looking to much like poseurs wanting to look like rockers. We never find out Animal's real name. The girls seem to have only one connection in the recording industry. The band performed too many of their songs on screen. Who becomes a rocker after watching Tina Turner? That would be R&B. One of the few bright spots is that Gershon's voice over narrative seemed cool and had some good lines. Oh and did I mention she looked hot in those pants!