‘Rolling Loud: The Movie’ Review: Owen Wilson Plays a Very Bad Dad in a Tone-Deaf Would-Be Comedy

An underage teenager gets snuck into a hip-hop music festival headlined by Travis Scott and soon goes missing, his desperate father frantically attempting to find him before it’s too late.

No, it’s not a harrowing drama based on the tragic 2021 real-life events at Scott’s Astroworld concert in Texas, where 10 concertgoers were killed in a fatal crowd crush. Instead, Rolling Loud: The Movie is…a comedy. Discuss among yourselves.

To say that this effort written and directed by Jeremy Garelick (The Wedding Ringer, Murder Mystery 2) — who is modestly described in the film’s press notes as “reinventing Hollywood comedy with brain, heart, and guts” — comes across as tone-deaf is an understatement. Even if you ignore the disturbing parallels to past events, this story of a dad attempting to bond with his 13-year-old son by irresponsibly sneaking him into the popular hip-hop music festival of the title while lying to his wife and the festival’s security personnel just feels icky. Did I mention it’s a true story?

Yes, the filmmaker apparently did take his 13-year-old to the festival, filled with people walking around in various states of undress and many of them using drugs, against his wife’s wishes. And he did lose contact with his son, unable to reach him because of the lack of cell phone reception. Apparently, rather than feeling chastened, he thought: “What a great idea for a movie!”

Of course, it still could have worked if the film actually proved funny. Instead, it’s a witless, moronic, slapstick-filled mediocrity that basically serves as a feature-length commercial for the popular music festival where parts of it were filmed (Live Nation is among the production companies). To that end, the film features not only Scott, playing a recliner-chair-loving version of himself (don’t ask), but also such real-life hip-hop stars as Sexyy Red, Ski Mask the Slump God, and Ty Dolla $ign, none of whom are likely to enlarge their fan base.

Wilson plays hapless furniture salesman Hank — he works at “Raymond & Ferguson” — who tells his wife Melanie (Jolene) that he’s taking their son Zion (Christian Convery) to their lake house, but instead brings him to Rolling Loud. There he runs into his co-worker Terry (comedian Matt Rife, managing to make his character as annoying as his stand-up), whom he had just been ordered to fire by their boss (Henry Winkler, squandering some of that good will from Barry).

Distracted by Terry, Hank doesn’t think much of it when Zion excuses himself to go to the bathroom. But he becomes increasingly anxious when his son fails to reappear, and that’s when the would-be comic complications ensue.

They include an episode in which Hank retreats to a quiet room, only to discover that his lying conversation to his wife has been broadcast to a disapproving crowd outside; a physical altercation with security guards when he attempts to report his son missing; and accidentally throwing Linda (Christine Ko), a festival volunteer worker, off of a Ferris wheel, injuring a wheelchair-bound bystander in the process. And, of course, Hank also accidentally takes drugs and begins tripping. And the volunteer strips naked to distract the security guards, revealing a forest-level growth of pubic hair in the process. (The appealing Ko, who provides some genuine amusement in her role, deserved better).

It’s all about as laborious as it sounds, with Wilson, utilizing his familiar style of motor-mouthed pathos and desperation, working very hard to infuse comic energy into the strained proceedings. By the time he gets onstage with Scott and then disastrously leaps into the mosh pit, all you’re thinking is that he needs to collaborate with Wes Anderson again, and as soon as possible. As for Scott, if he survived the fallout from Astroworld, he can survive this.