We all know Billie Joe Armstrong as the front man for the long-lived punk-pop band Green Day – now, we shall know him as a film actor. Armstrong makes his leading role debut in Ordinary World, with a new trailer hitting today introducing us to a very different Billie Joe.
For starters, he’s not a rock star any more; he just wants to be one again. Armstrong plays Perry, a former punk rocker having difficulty adjusting to life outside of punk. Unhappy at work and trying to manage a family with a distant wife (Selma Blair) and an adolescent daughter (Madisyn Shipman), Perry just wants one more day to cut loose and experience the excess of the punk lifestyle. So, on the advice and cold hard cash of his brother (Chris Messina), he does just that by getting a hotel room and tossing himself a blowout party for his 40th birthday.
The trailer shows us a charming, if rather light comedy that has quite a bit in common with almost every other comedy about an unhappy schlub who throws a party with his friends. There’s booze, there’s a stripper, there’s shenanigans with the hotel staff. The selling point here is really Armstrong, and the bevy of comedians he has backing him up – including Fred Armisen, Judy Greer, and Kevin Corrigan. But even with that, one wonders just how interesting the story of failed rock star, played by a successful rock star, throwing a big party is actually going to be. Yes, we all get to see whether Armstrong can act, and there’s always the hope for a Green Day song or two, but I’m not sure that’s enough for the price of admission.
Ordinary World premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival this year and will rock its way into theaters and digital HD on October 14.
