Yes, the movie is similar to what you have seen before, but the cast are good, the script is warm and funny, and the movie as a whole is mostly enjoyable.

I sometimes give bad-ish movies 5 stars if there's at least a bit of entertainment to be had. But aside from some good music and a few moments here and there, this is a poorly executed series of clichés that feels far too long than it actually is. I like the actors and theme, but they just get buried under the weight of all the usual stereotypes. A shame, since I was really expecting to be charmed by this one.

I was surprised by this movie. I've read some negative stuff on how the characters are stereotypical high schoolers, and the music is good but too focused on old-school metal, and the character arcs are too obvious. Let's respond to these. Stereotypes often exist because they are real to some degree. Hunter being an outcast because of his style choices is not an outdated concept. This continues to be truth. There are jocks, rich kids, quiet girls, snobby girls, nerds, metal-heads, all kinds of people, and they behave in relatively standard ways. Some people transcend groups or become members of more than one, like Kevin being a bit of a metal-head nerd or Kendall being a quiet member of the snobby group. Having extraordinarily complex high school students in abundance would be an exception to normal life. I have no problem with leaning on stereotypes at this age. If the kids want to base their sound on old-school metal at the expense of newer stuff (or The White Stripes) is their prerogative. Getting offended because they don't appreciate all types of music seems foolish. Kids like what they like, and you don't have to understand. I liked the music. I read one comment about the "douche turned respectable" trope played out. That will never be played out, because watching a character get their comeuppance or simply having a light turn on is still a basic plot line for a movie to follow. This movie, though, coupled Hunter's singular desire to have a bitchin' band with Kevin's balanced life was good for both of them in that they came to respect each other. Emily as a sweet girl that has a bit of a screw loose was a fun concept. The relationship between Hunter and Kevin's band with Clay's band was interesting, as Clay surprised me with his positive attitude. Kept waiting for that shoe to drop. I liked the movie a lot. It will end up being a guilty pleasure, because I imagine no one else will have seen it. I loved the three main characters, especially Isis Hainsworth as Emily. I loved the music development of the band. The plot was decent enough, although I'll never know why Hunter ended up in detox, as that wasn't his problem. I enjoyed it, though, and I look forward to watching it again.

As a metalhead I would have loved to enjoy this but as others have said very much feels like the standard sterotypical highschool douche to good guy movie but with metal as a way of reasoning it. Also it seemed in some areas like it was trying to say classic metal was good but newer metal like Slipknot was bad as they had none of it played and her reacting bad and I really hate that type of metal eliteism. The good, there was some good ish music and joe manganiello is always a plus but with the forced romance, over egging on swearing and sterotypes it fell short for me.